How is it that we are already less than a week away from the midway point in the year? Why are your days flying by so quickly June? Growing up it felt as if summer days went on endlessly. But now that I am older most days feel as if they don't last longer than a hot minute. From feeling like no time has passed at all to time moving at the speed of light, isn't it funny how our perception of time makes such seismic shifts as we age? Just the other day I had lunch with a friend I met twenty five and half years ago in my doctoral cohort. Yet each time I see her, it feels as if no time has passed since both the first and last time we got together. Earlier this week I picked up a of of freshly baked, still warm Italian bread from my favorite little Italian deli with the intention of using it for grilled crostini topped with marinated goat cheese. Then suddenly it was two days old and getting a bit stale. While my best laid plans for an evening enjoying a great appetizer and sipping on Paper Planes went out the window, I found myself with the unplanned Plan B opportunity of making this incredibly luscious, sumptuous Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole. One which might better be described as a cross between a bread pudding and a cheesecake like french toast. As it turned out, this turned out to be one those rare times where procrastination was a blessing.
Had I not serendipitously seen a friend's Instagram post of her croissant french toast casserole topped with mascarpone I may have settled for making this casserole with cubes of cream cheese. Given the choice between the two, who wouldn't choose the richer, creamier, slightly buttery "Italian" cream cheese? Before you answer that (especially if you ever tasted mascarpone), let me put it t another way. From a flavor perspective, making the choice between butter and margarine or imitation vanilla and a Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract would pretty much the same kind of no-brainer decision.
There is almost always a couple of jars cherry preserves or cherry jam in the cupboard. More importantly, there is always at least one jar hidden because someone here can inhale a jar faster than the speed of light. The jar of cherry preserves I bought in Colorado was long gone. And the jar of Cherry Preserves I picked up in Door County this past April was intended for another purpose. Fortunately there a jar of Stonewall Kitchen's Bada Bing Cherry Jam hidden from the cherry jam bandit. Between the mascarpone cheese, the cherry jam, and the custard like bites of bread, this epic french toast casserole is one destined to be one of the reasons you decide life is too short to let any more time pass before you spend some quality time with friends.
Serve this Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole at a brunch and it's pretty much guaranteed it will be the one dish everyone can't stop raving or talking about.
Soaking the cubes of bread overnight in a custard mixture made of half and half, whole milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs (lots of eggs) is what helps give this casserole it's melt in your mouth bread pudding-like texture.
In addition to generously buttering the baking dish with room temperature butter, thin slices of cold butter are placed over the dollops of the lightly sweetened mascarpone and the cherry preserves/jam placed on top of the overnight custard soaked bread cubes.
The Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole bakes in.a 375 degree (F) preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until it's golden and puffed up. Always, always put your baking dish on a baking pan. Not only will it catch any drippings, it will keep you from putting a cold out of the refrigerator baking dish on a hot rack.
Let the Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole rest for about 20 minutes before topping it with some Luxardo cherries. Once these decadent cherries are placed on top, it's ready to serve. For added sweetness, serve the french toast casserole with some sifted confectionary sugar. And for your cherry loving friends, serve with even more cherry preserves/jam.
To say that I am currently obsessed with this Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole would be an understatement. I could go on endlessly singing its' praises, shamelessly encouraging (or badgering) you to make it, or describing how its' mouthwatering deliciousness will send you into a temporary state of time suspended euphoria. But, uncharacteristically, I shall restrain from doing all of those things. Instead I am hoping the photos of this cheesecake-like, bread pudding-like french toast casserole will cause you to make this droolworthy, epic dish for the people in your life that matter. Either the ones you see on a regular basis or the ones you haven't seen in what feels like a lifetime.
Recipe
Cherry and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole
Serves 7 generously and up to 10 if served on a brunch buffet
Ingredients
16 ounce loaf of day old Italian Bread, French Bread, or Brioche, cut into 1" slices and then into 1" cubes
8 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1 cup whole milk
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (226g) mascarpone
3 Tablespoons confectionary sugar
10-12 ounces cherry jam or cherry preserves (see notes)
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, thinly sliced
16-18 Luxardo cherries
Confectionary sugar
Directions
1. With the three Tablespoons of the room temperature unsalted butter, generously butter a 9"x13" rectangular or oval baking dish. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl lightly beat the eggs. Add in the half and half, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and Kosher salt. Whisk to blend.
3. Drop 6-8 bread cubes into the custard mixture. With a slotted spoon transfer to baking dish. Continue until all cubes of bread have been dipped. Then pour the remaining custard mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Remove chilled casserole and place onto a large baking sheet.
5. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and confectionary sugar.
6. Evenly drop spoonfuls of the cherry jam/preserves and sweetened mascarpone over the casserole.
7. Followed by evenly topping the casserole with the 4 Tablespoons of the thinly sliced chilled butter.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the casserole is golden and puffed.
9. Remove from the oven. Top with the Luxardo cherries. Let the french toast casserole rest for about 15-20 minutes before serving.
10. Serve in bowls lightly dusted with confectionary sugar and optionally some additional cherry jam/preserves.
Notes: (1) I used 10 ounces of the 12 ounce jar of Stonewall Kitchen's Bada Bing Cherry Jam. Served the remaining two ounces on the side with the baked french toast. If you can't find that jam, use another high quality jar of cherry jam/preserves. (2) Luxardo Cherries definitely take this Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone French Toast Casserole to a whole new level of scrumptiousness. You can find them in either some grocery stores or in most liquor stores. (3) I used an Italian Bread baguette (about 16 inches long) from my favorite Italian store for this casserole. Look for a freshly baked baguette from the grocery store and then let sit for at least a day before cutting up and using in this casserole. (4) If for some reason you don't love cherries, you can make this with a good quality blueberry jam, raspberry jam, or blackberry jam.
