Baked French Toast with Cardamom and Apricot Preserves

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Mother's everywhere share a secret. It's about an unrecognized Thanksgiving Day. The one when now grown children return for un-coerced visits with the family. I'm in the middle of a reunion and have three generations of family underfoot, noisily sharing oral history and re-threading the needle that binds a family one member to the other. I want these times to be special and I guess my way of saying it is with food and the re-creation of feasts shared in times past. Lunch and dinner are no problem, but breakfast in a home where no two people eat the same cereal can take on the aspects of a comic opera. A two slice toaster and "how do you want you eggs dear" become a joke. While there's always someone to run to the bakery - they are athletes one and all - they continue to grouse so loudly about the legitimacy of Oregon bagels and bialys that contingency plans are in order. Bacon is baked by the pound, eggs become frittatas and toast or English muffins go under the broiler 12 pieces at a time. Special mornings begin with oven baked French toast. I have two recipes, one for adults and the other for the children. Our two older grandsons will be helping me cook next week and they'll show you how to make their version of French toast. This is my unabashedly adult version of an old favorite. I clipped the recipe from Gourmet magazine a decade ago. The only change I've made to their recipe is to replace orange marmalade with apricot preserves. The syrup that is served with this French toast is wonderful. Here's the recipe.

Baked French Toast With Cardamom and Apricot Preserves...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups apricot preserves
10 ( 4 x 4 x 1-inch-thick) slices egg bread or Texas toast
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 large eggs
1-1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
For citrus syrup
1-1/4 cups light corn syrup
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
4 teaspoons sugar
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1) To make French toast: Butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread preserves evenly over 1 side of each bread slice. Cut slices diagonally in half, forming triangles. Arrange triangles crosswise in dish, preserve side up and overlapping slightly. Whisk milk and next 7 ingredients in large bowl. Pour custard over bread. Let bread stand 1 hour, basting occasionally, or cover and refrigerate overnight.
2) To make citrus syrup: Mix first 5 ingredients in small bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let stand at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
3) To cook: Preheat oven to 350degrees F. Bake French toast, uncovered, until puffed and golden brown, about 50 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar; serve with citrus syrup. Yield: 10 servings.

This recipe is being linked to Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday