Moravian Sugar Cake bread pudding is the only reason you should ever allow Moravian Sugar Cake to get stale. Bring out the stretchy pants, because if you're anything like me, you will eat this at any and every opportunity until it is gone. A stale or oven-dried Moravian Sugar Cake makes the perfect dry sponge to soak up a very standard lightly sweetened custard. The magic is in the toffee-like layer of brown sugar and browned butter coating the bottom of the pan as well as the sugar topping from the MSC itself. Pure, unadulterated bliss.
For the Custard (you most likely will not need all of it for this recipe)
3cupswhole milk
4large eggs
2egg yolks
¼cup1.75 oz granulated sugar
½teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
1 8" or 9" square of stale or dried Moravian Sugar Cake
For the Sorghum Maple Emulsion Sauce (you can use whatever sauce you like, but this stuff is The Best)
3Tablespoonssorghum syrup
3Tablespoonsreal maple syrup
2Tablespoonsbuttersoft but not greasy
tiny pinch fine sea salt
¼teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
To Prepare the Pan
Spray a 9" x 9" baking dish with pan spray (or brush it with softened butter)
Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan.
Drizzle the browned butter over the sugar, trying to soak as much of the sugar as you can.
Stir the sugar and butter mixture around with a spatula to get most of the sugar "wet" with butter. Spread the butter sugar mixture in the pan as evenly as you can. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes or so, or until the butter/sugar mixture is firm.
For the Custard
While the browned butter is hardening in the freezer, whisk together the custard.
Combine all the custard ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk well to make sure the sugar dissolves. Strain the custard to get out any stray bits of lumpy egg. We don't want that.
Place the stale Moravian Sugar Cake on the brown butter/sugar mixture. Take a skewer or toothpick and poke holes all over the cake, poking down all the way through.
Slowly and evenly pour about a cup of the custard over the cake. Let the cake completely absorb the custard, and then evenly pour on another 1/2 to 1 cup of custard and let that soak in. It's fine if the cake floats a tiny bit, but you don't want it bobbing in a sea of custard. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate an hour or two or up to overnight.
After at least two hours, check the cake and slowly pour on more custard if you think it needs more. It should have swelled up with custard and will fit nicely in the pan, but a bit of extra custard will keep it from getting crunchy edges. It also depends on how custardy you like your French Toast. If you like it super custardy, add some more. If you like yours on the drier side, you can probably leave it like it is.
About half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 350F.
Once your cake is custardy to your liking, bake it on the center rack until the center of the cake reads about 165-170F on an instant read thermometer, about 30-35 minutes. It may still look a bit wet in the very center, but the sides will be nicely set. If you stick a knife in the cake about an inch or so from the center, it should come out clean.
Cool to warm before serving with the Sorghum Maple Emulsion.
I strongly encourage you to eat it warm, although it's pretty dang good straight from the fridge too.
This cake is not an exact science, but I promise you it will be completely worth it once you try it.
To Make the Sorghum Maple Emulsion
Combine all the ingredients in a small, microwave-safe bowl (or in the top of a double boiler.
Either way you choose to go, heat the mixture until the butter is about halfway melted.
Remove it from the heat.
Either pour the syrup into a blender and blend in high for a few seconds or use an immersion blender to emulsify the sauce into thick, creamy goodness.
Even though this doesn't sound like a lot of sauce, I promise it's enough to top each serving cut from one pan of Moravian Sugar Cake Baked French Toast.
Notes
Since each square of MSC is different and will absorb differing amounts of custard, you may not need all the custard you make. Take any extra custard, pour it into a ramekin or small baking dish and bake the custard at 300F in a water bath until set. Cool to warm before eating, then dig in.To make this baked French toast fall down solidly on the dessert side of things rather than the breakfast and brunch side, serve with some whipped cream you sweeten lightly with either some sorghum syrup or maple syrup. You will not be sorry.