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Company Baked French Toast with Cherry Wine Sauce

Rose Sickle of Traverse City won third place at Friske Orchards 6th annual cherry recipe contest with this recipe, which features Traverse City cherries and cherry wine.

Ingredients

Cherry Sauce:
  • 4 cups frozen cherries
  • 1/2 cup cherry wine
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
French Toast:
  • 1 loaf Texas toast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 6 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cherries, wine and sugar.  Let mixture cook until the cherries thaw and cherries are soft. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice, water and cornstarch until smooth. Add this mixture to cherries and boil until thickened. Add the almond extract. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. For the french toast, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-x-13” baking pan. Place 6 slices of bread in prepared pan to form an even layer. Spoon about 3/4 of the cherry sauce over the bread.  Top with remaining 6 slices of bread. In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, vanilla and sugar, whisking until well combined. Pour the mixture over the assembled French toast. Allow the dish to sit for 10 minutes until most of the egg-milk mixture is absorbed. Bake until cooked thoroughly, about 30-45 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.