At the cottage or for a decadent weekend breakfast, serve this sweet fruity bake. It can be assembled the night before and refrigerated for ease of preparation in the morning.
Maple Breakfast Bake
1 loaf egg challah or other firm white bread
1 250 g package light cream cheese
500 ml (2 cups) fresh or frozen blueberries
8 eggs beaten
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) milk
50 ml ( 1/4 cup) maple syrup
50 ml ( 1/4 cup) melted butter
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Remove crusts from bread; cut in 2.5 cm (1-inch) cubes (makes about 2.5 l/10 cups). Cut cream cheese into cubes (makes about 250 ml/1 cup). Grease a 23 cm (9-inch) square baking dish. Place half of the bread cubes in the dish. Scatter cream cheese cubes and about half of blueberries over the bread.
Top with remaining bread cubes and blueberries. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, maple syrup and butter. Carefully pour over bread mixture. Bake until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour, covering with aluminum foil if edges brown too much. To serve, cut in squares. Serve with additional maple syrup if desired.
Makes 9 servings.