Weekend special

I have friends who serve up amazing breakfasts to their kids every day, with cooked eggs, sausage, pancakes etc. Oh, you know who you are. I cannot allow my children to sleep over at these houses. For if they do, they will realize that they are deprived and will rebel against the sorry selection of whole-wheat cereals and last week's left over English muffin that we have on offer in our kitchen during the week. The weekend however, is a different matter, and I love nothing more than starting the day in my PJs cooking up a huge plate of pancakes (that mysteriously all seem to disappear, however many there are on the plate), or sausages and hash browns. Weekends in our house are 'special breakfast' days, or, if you live like the friends I mentioned above, 'average days'.

Last weekend I tried a new recipe for a more or less effortless weekend breakfast, which turned out rather delicious. I confess that it isn't completely free from effort, but the effort expended happens the previous evening, so the morning itself is pretty effortless, and that means an extra half hour in bed, so I can't complain.

The original recipe came in one of the ever-increasing number of emails I get from Allrecipes.com, but I tweaked it to our tastes, and made it slightly less unhealthy by reducing the amount of cream. Yes, it's the weekend, but I don't want to feel guilty all day and have to skip dessert later!

Baked Cranberry-Raisin French Toast
Serves 6

oil spray
1 16oz package of cinnamon raisin bread, cut into 1" cubes
3/4 cup dried cranberries
6 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups milk (I used 2%/semi-skimmed)
2 tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup to serve

1. Place half the bread cubes in a 3 qt baking dish, sprayed with oil spray. Sprinkle over 1/2 cup of the cranberries. Put remaining bread cubes over the top, then sprinkle with remaining cranberries.
2. Whisk together the eggs, cream, milk and vanilla, and then pour over the contents of the baking dish. Press down lightly on the bread cubes to make sure that all start to soak up the liquidy goodness.
3. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight.
4. In the morning, uncover the dish and bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until golden and set in the middle. Serve with maple syrup.