Baked French Toast

I wanted to try out a baked french toast recipe to do a practice run for Christmas morning.  I found this recipe done by the Pioneer Woman.

• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Fresh Fruit (optional)
• Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks (or cut into cubes) and evenly distribute in the pan.
• Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.
  In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add nutmeg if desired. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.
  When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. (If you're using fruit, sprinkle on before the crumb mixture.) Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.
  Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.
  The verdict: This made the house smell amazing, I think it will be perfect for Christmas morning.  Josh loved the French toast and ate seconds.  Ethan and Michael thought it was good but had some hesitations to commit to it for our Christmas breakfast.  I thought it was pretty tasty I especially liked the crunchy top.  I takes 1 hour to cook in the morning but that'll work out well to cook while we are opening presents.