Crème Brule French Toast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I never skip it.  But it's rarely more complicated than a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice.  Then I came across Crème Brule French Toast at a friend's party and fell in love with it.  Once I figured out how to make it myself, I feel even more in love.  You see, I like to EAT, not COOK when I wake up.  But with this, all the work is done the day before, and all I do is pop it in the oven when I wake up.  Easy.  It tastes like French Toast, with a surprise Crème Brule layer on the bottom.  The bright red strawberries I had in my fridge and the compliments from my breakfast mates were just more reasons to smile that morning!  Oh--and if you make a big batch, the leftovers can give you great breakfasts for many days. Don't worry, the recipe is below:

Crème Brule French Toast

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon syrup
• French or Italian bread (1-1.5 inch thick slices)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange liquor or orange juice
• cinnamon to taste (optional)

Instructions

• Melt butter in saucepan
• Add syrup and brown sugar
• Stir until sugar is dissolved
• Pour liquid into bottom of glass dish
• Arrange bread on top of sugar Mixture
• Mix together eggs, half and half, vanilla, salt, and OJ (and cinnamon)
• Pour over bread
• Soak overnight in fridge
• Bake 35 minutes at 350deg