Baked Berry Cheesecake French Toast

This post may contain affiliate links

As a French Toast fanatic, I am here to tell you that this Baked Berry Cheesecake French Toast is the very best I’ve ever had, and it needs to be on your brunch table. It is made with soft bread soaked in a delicious custard, with dollops of fresh berry compote and a creamy cheesecake filling. It may taste gourmet, but it is really easy to make, taking just 20 minutes of active work!

Why you should try this recipe

Gosh, where do I even begin!

Let me just first convince you of my love for French Toast. It is my go to order whenever I go out for brunch, and I’ve had many different kinds. But the thing is, restaurant French Toast often leaves me less than satisfied. It is often too dry, not sweet enough, too sweet, and so on. Suffice it to say, I am picky and snobby when it comes to French Toast. So I hope you trust me when I tell you this one is *it*.

Now let’s get a bit more specific:

• Baked French Toast is a lot easier to make. Let’s face it, standing and pan frying one slice at a time can get tedious, and by the time you’re done, the first couple batches are already too cold. So the baked version is much more hands off and simpler to execute
• This French Toast tastes gourmet. Luxury. It should be on a Michelin star menu. It is sophisticated: the perfect level of sweetness contrasted by the fresh berry compote and creamy cheesecake filling
• The texture is just right. Dryness? We don’t know her. This French Toast has a crispy golden crust but a soft, moist interior – exactly how it should be. If you’ve ever had a good bread pudding, this is similar!
• It is a fuss free recipe, requiring only 20 minutes of active work. It may taste fancy, and there may be a few components, but each component is very simple to make with a few ingredients and steps

3 components

This French Toast has 3 main components:

• The French toast part itself. I used King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, but you can you brioche bread too. The bread is dipped in a yummy custard which uses sugar in it, so you don’t have to douse the toast in maple syrup at the end
• A cheesecake filling. This is made with cream cheese, cream, and sugar, and adds a delicious creamy tang
• Berry compote. I make a simple 10 minute compote with a mix of berries, sugar and lemon juice. It tastes amazing, but if you don’t have the time, you can just use a jam you like

Optionally, I like to top off the skillet with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon to give the French toast the golden crust we all want!

Step by step photos

The detailed recipe is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but let’s go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything:

For the berry compote, cook the chopped berries with sugar and lemon juice on low heat until they start to look like jam:

Make the cheesecake filling by whisking together the cream cheese, heavy cream and sugar until creamy:

Cut up the bread into large chunks:

Make the custard by whisking together the ingredients in a large bowl:

Soak the bread chunks into the custard:

Brush butter in a cast iron skillet and sprinkle cinnamon brown sugar. Add half of the soaked bread, and dollop over half of the berry compote and cheesecake filling:

Repeat and add another layer, then top off with more cinnamon brown sugar:

Baked, and serve hot with a little maple syrup and fresh berries!

FAQs

Print