Serves 6-8
1 loaf brioche bread
6 eggs
1½ cups heavy whipping cream or Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream
Cinnamon, to taste
1 cup chocolate chips or blueberries, optional
Chopped pecans, optional
Maple syrup, optional
Cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Crumble bread into small pieces and place in dish.
3. Whip eggs until smooth and add in heavy whipping cream or Bourbon Cream. Sprinkle in cinnamon and stir. Once smooth, pour over bread.
4. Top with chocolate chips, blueberries and/or pecans if using. Bake approximately 25-30 minutes. Serve with maple syrup if you like.
Note: I prefer to use the Bourbon Cream—if you don’t like bourbon, then we are probably not friends! But if you’re not a huge bourbon fan and want to cut a few calories and fat, you could split and use half-and-half with the heavy whipping cream. But trust me on the Bourbon Cream. It’s a game changer. You could also use chocolate chip brioche, bread or other flavored brioche to add extra flavor to this recipe.
Finalist
Leslie Carr, Bowling Green
“My son, Trent Chappell, was home in Kentucky from the Air Force and wanted to do some bourbon tours. After we toured Buffalo Trace, I decided to put a spin on a regular French toast recipe with the distillery’s Bourbon Cream. The Bourbon Cream is a winter staple for a bunch of ladies at Indian Hills Country Club because of the late Miss Emma Jean Kirby. As soon as the weather gets cool, we all break out our Bourbon Cream for our coffee. She taught us well! This recipe is so simple, and I always get so many compliments on it. Not just for winter; you could do summer berries, too!”