During July, the strawberries are "long gone" so blueberries are the fruit dujour at the local farmer's market. We have eight small blueberry bushes planted in our yard, but their yield is still rather small. So to honor John Alexander's love of French toast and make the most of local blueberries, I made a DIVINE concoction that I call Blueberry Baked French Toast. I have to confess that only three blueberries were ripe on our bushes...most were from the Renston Homestead booth at the farmer's market.

Brimming with three cups of berries, dusted with confectioner's sugar, topped with freshly whipped cream, and garnished with lemon zest, a fresh blueberry, and a lemon verbena leaf...the finishing touch was a tiny pool of warm maple syrup that we added just before eating.

Easy to make as most of the steps take place the night before allowing the bread to soak before baking the next morning. Here is the recipe:

Blueberry Baked French Toast

INGREDIENTS:

1 loaf of challah or brioche cut or torn into large pieces
6 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cup milk
¾ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup brown sugar
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk the milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar into the eggs. Pour the custard mixture over the bread and toss. Seal in a container and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Toss the bread mixture lightly and stir in blueberries. Butter a large 9 inch pieplate and fill with the blueberry-bread mixture. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes until it slices well.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream and warm maple syrup.