Monday, June 15, 2009

Berry Strata

I made this dessert a couple of weeks ago. The recipe is Giada's, straight out of The Food Network.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
4 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup orange juice
4 slices of bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained

Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off the heat, add the honey, and stir to combine. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, and sugar. Using a fork, mix to combine and beat the eggs. Add the milk, orange juice, butter and honey mixture, and bread. Stir to combine. Gently fold in the berries.

Place the ingredients in a 10-inch round (2-quart) baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into dishes and serve.

It came out OKAY. There are a couple of things I'm going to do differently when I make it next time
- Use a nice, sweet bread.
- Double the quantity of honey
- Add an extra flavor - maybe nutmeg.
- Serve chilled instead of warm
- Serve with whipped cream.