Fabulous Grand Marnier French Toast

This is an awesome recipe. I can't remember where I first got it, I think it was from a friend of my daughter's. Anyhow, it was a Long time ago and I've changed it many times since then. It's a favorite of my bed and breakfast guests. Everybody loves it including me. It's not exactly low calorie, but then most bed and breakfast dishes aren't. But we are capable of cooking low calorie dishes and also food for restricted diets, such a low sugar, nondairy or non-gluten. It's always a challenge for me when guests ask for special diet food. I've learned to make wonderful non-gluten muffins and pancakes, and other items that meet the needs of special diets. Most stores now carry special flours, milk, cheeses and other foods for restricted diets.

Just about every bed and breakfast that I know of serves some kind of french toast. A lot of them do a stuffed or caramelized version. An innkeeper friend of mine does "butterfly" French Toast. She places the toast slices on the plate so that they form a butterfly and smothers them in lemon curd. She then adds blue berries for the eyes and other fruits and whipped cream for decoration.

French toast can be prepared and fried or baked just before breakfast. Or it can be soaked in an egg mixture and left in the refrigerator overnight, then fried or baked in the morning. It is usually served with fruit, maple or fruit syrup, sugar or jam, and, sometimes, special flavored butters. Ours is soaked in an egg custard over night and then baked on buttered pans in the morning. We serve it with real maple syrup and orange butter, which we make ourselves, and bacon or sausage.

Originally, my recipe called for four cups of cream, but I changed it to three cups of cream and one cup of orange juice. It gives it an orangier flavor and cuts down on the cream. The flavor is enhanced by the Grand Marnier, which is very expensive, so you may want to substitute the cheaper Cointreau, which is also an Orange liqueur. I have included the recipe here, so you can try it for yourself.

Grand Marnier French Toast
Parisian-style French bread
(twelve-sixteen 3/4 to 1-inch slices)
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup orange juice
4 eggs
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
4 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur
4 tablespoons melted butter

Orange Butter
6 ounces butter, softened
Juice of 1 orange
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur
Mint leaves for garnish

Instructions
Put 12 to 16 pieces of bread in a large rectangle
baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients and pour
over bread. Put in refrigerator for several hours. Turn
over and soak overnight.

The next morning, preheat
oven to 350 to 375 degrees. Brush rimmed cookie
sheets generously with melted butter. Lay pieces of
French toast onto buttered pans. Brush tops of
French toast pieces with melted butter.

Bake for
approximately 45 minutes to an hour, turning
halfway through baking time.

To make the orange butter, mix all the ingredients
together and form into individual balls or molds. Garnish
with mint leaves.

To serve, remove the French toast from
pans, transfer to plates, and sprinkle with confectioners’
sugar. Garnish and serve two pieces to each person
with orange butter and maple syrup.

Yield: 6-8 servings (serving size: 2 pieces).