Strawberry French Toast
This strawberry French toast makes an elegant breakfast or brunch and can be made up the night before, then cooked in the morning. You can use fresh strawberries by blending some of them into a sauce. Delicious topped with whipped cream.
sliced almonds (Optional)
½
cup
frozen strawberries - thawed, drained, and juice reserved
1
(10 ounce) package
water as needed
white sugar
½
cup
cornstarch
2
tablespoons
cream cheese, softened
1
(8 ounce) package
white sugar
2
tablespoons
vanilla extract
1
teaspoon
milk
1
cup
eggs, beaten
3
large
white sugar
1 ½
teaspoons
ground cinnamon
½
teaspoon
ground nutmeg
¼
teaspoon
Italian bread
1
loaf
butter, or as needed
1
tablespoon
 Cook and stir almonds in a skillet over medium high heat until fragrant and toasted, 3 to 5 minutes.
  Add enough water to reserved strawberry liquid to equal 1 cup liquid.
  Stir 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch together in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually stir strawberry liquid into sugar mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is clear and thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir strawberries and almonds into sugar mixture.
  Beat cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Whisk milk, eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl.
  Slice bread at 1 ½-inch intervals about 3/4 of the way through. Cut a slit in the center of each slice to form a pocket, and fill each pocket with 1 rounded tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Separate slices from loaf by cutting each slice the rest of the way through the loaf.
  Dip bread slices in egg mixture to coat completely.
  Melt butter on a griddle over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook bread slices on preheated griddle until golden brown, 2 to 5 minutes per side. Serve French toast with strawberry-almond mixture.
