Last weekend, I invited guests for Sunday brunch and then wondered what to serve that could be ready quickly after church.   I turned to Perfect Party Food, All the Recipes and Tips You’ll Ever Need for Stress-Free Entertaining,* from the Diva of Do-Ahead Diane Phillips.  Diane is noted for her do-ahead recipes and having taken several of her cooking classes, I knew that her recipes were “can’t miss.”   There were several options for brunch casseroles in the cookbook – I had a difficult time making a selection.

A sweet treat is always popular, so I chose to make Amaretto-Peach French Toast. It was absolutely delicious and quite a hit with my guests.  It was sweet, but not too sweet. It uses baking powder as the leavener which is a plus since I work at Clabber Girl and we manufacture Clabber Girl and Rumford Baking Powders. I used Rumford Reduced Sodium Baking Powder and the toast rose beautifully.  Since I had blueberries and peaches in my freezer, I used both, and the flavor combination was great.

The French toast was easy to assemble, and took very little time to prepare.  I did add a bit more amaretto than the recipe called for and that additional flavor boost was nice.  Otherwise, I made the recipe exactly as directed.  (One of the best things about this particular cookbook is that EVERY recipe is Do-Ahead!  Diane gives tips for freezing, using a crockpot, recipe variations, and serving suggestions including garnishes. It’s a great resource for those who like to entertain.)

My guests raved over the dish and asked for the recipe, which I think is the true test of a recipe’s success.  I can’t wait to try out other recipes from Diane’s book….brunch anyone?

*Perfect Party Food is a James Beard Foundation Book Award Nominee and published by The Harvard Press, 2005.