Decadent French Toast, or "The Merry Parry’s Come for Brunch"

The Merry Parry's.  For those of you who don't know them, that’s Lindsey, Layla, and Long John Leather Couch himself. 

Lindsey holds a special place in my heart because she is the only person I know of to have accepted "the challenge".  

Plus, they drove 8 hours from Lake Tahoe, so John could spend another 5 plus hours in the car, handing out water & Gatorade for the cyclist on his 100 mile bike ride. 

 How do you repay that kind of devotion? An invitation to brunch and some tasty French toast. 

This is another brunch recipe with the prep work all done the night before.  

Company French Toast

16 slices bread

6 oz cream cheese

cinnamon/sugar mixture

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1 stick of butter

6 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

sour cream

fresh berries

Spread 8 slices of bread with cream cheese.  Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar.  Top each slice with the remaining bread.  Cut each sandwich in half on the diagonal.  

Melt butter, brown sugar and syrup in the microwave.  Pour into a rimmed cookie sheet (jelly roll pan).  Place bread in pan on top of syrup mixture.  

In a medium bowl, blend eggs, milk and vanilla.  Pour over bread.  Cover and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.  

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes rotating pan halfway through.  

Remove French toast from pan and flip so that the caramel side is up.  Top with sour cream and sliced berries.

Johnny Rub enjoyed the breakfast but Layla was much less impressed by the whole thing.