Amelia Island Williams House, Florida Bed and Breakfast

Blueberry Strata at Williams House B & B

Pictured at left is Blueberry Strata, a favorite of many guests, and what we served this morning for breakfast at the Williams House.   The recipe follows and can also be found in the B&B Cookbook that we sell in our Inn gift shop.

Blueberry Strata

1 loaf French Bread cut into 1″ cubes

2 (8oz.) package cream cheese cubed

1 cup fresh blueberries, washed

12 large eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups milk

Grease a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Add 1/2 bread, then scatter cream cheese and blueberries over bread.  Top with remaining bread.  Combine eggs, syrup, and milk in separate bowl and pour over bread.  Press down to soak all of the bread in the egg mixture.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Next Morning:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake covered with foil 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Garnish with fresh blueberries and a fresh cut strawberry.  Serves twelve.  Pour ribbons of  maple syrup for added sweetness.

Breakfast is set at Williams House Dining Room

We are going to begin featuring recipes we use for breakfast guests at the Williams House.  Most of our recipes are gathered in a book of local B&B recipes that can be purchased at our inn or on line at the association website.  However, the recipe this month is not in this book, but is one my mother used to create special mornings for my brother and myself as children.  It is for a superb cinnamon toast. It is sweet, crunchy and crusty and kids or grandkids can’t resist! 

Williams House Cinnamon Toast

1. Use original Pepperidge Farms white  bread and lay out 9 slices on foil covered cookie sheet.

2.Mix approximately 3 cups of sugar with several tablespoons of cinnamon and mix together until it takes on a moderate brown appearance (not as dark as light brown sugar).  Adjust sugar level to keep it from getting too dark as extra cinnamon will just make it a little bitter.

3.Melt one fourth stick of butter and blend together into sugar and cinnamon mix to form a crumbly mixture.  It looks like this won’t get completely mixed with this amount of butter but if you keeping stirring and mixing it will become a single consistency.

4. Add half and half carefully to form a slurry mixture.  It doesn’t take much, and you want the consistancy to be such that it does not fall off a spoon from gravity.  Also if it gets too wet it will soak the bread and stick after cooking.

5. Spread the slurry over the bread so it has a good, even and fairly thick coating that covers all the way to the edges.

6.Bake in oven for approximately 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until bottom of bread becomes browned like toast.

Let cool and it will form a wonderful crunchy sugar crust with a slightly gooey center.  It will ignite all the sugar receptors in your mouth!!!