Easter Brunch - Baked French Toast

Good morning folks! I hope everyone is having a nice relaxing weekend so far. I woke up with a headache, due to the fact that I may have had a glass too many of wine last night. It's a good thing that the plan for today was just to clean up and do some food prep for Easter dinner. Tonight I'll also be putting together our brunch for after church.

Last year, while both of our husbands were deployed, one of my best friends and I celebrated Easter together. She brought over this baked French Toast casserole thing, and to this day, it's one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. I'll be making it again this year, and letting it bake while we're at church.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick softened butter
• 5 eggs beaten
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 loaf Challah bread, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, cream and vanilla. Mix well.
2. Grease 9x13 inch pan. Spread bread evenly into pan. Pour egg mixture over the bread and mix until evenly distributed. Allow to rest in refrigerator over night.
3. Preheat oven to 375
4. Set pan with bread into a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with water to half inch below the top of smaller pan. 
5. Sprinkle bread with 2 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsps of cinnamon. 
6. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until the top browns. Mixture should be firm.
7. Serve warm

Not the best pic :/

As you can see from the ingredients, this isn't the healthiest option, but once or twice a year won't kill you.