Blueberry Cornbread French Toast

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat an 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Stir egg mixture into cornmeal mixture just until combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan; smooth top.

Bake in preheated oven until Cornbread is light brown around edges and a wooden pick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool in loaf pan 5 minutes. Invert Cornbread onto a wire rack, and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Trim ends, and slice into 8 (1-inch) slices. Set aside.

Bring blueberries and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until blueberries soften, about 3 minutes. Gently mash blueberries using back of a spoon or a potato masher. Simmer blueberries, stirring often, until they start to break down and volume is reduced to about 1 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Place a medium-size metal bowl and a metal whisk in freezer until very cold, about 10 minutes. Add cream and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla to cold metal bowl; beat using cold whisk until medium peaks begin to form, about 2 minutes. Do not overbeat! Refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to use.

Whisk together eggs in a large, wide-bottomed bowl until combined. Add milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla; whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1/2 cup blueberry sauce. Reserve remaining blueberry sauce for serving. 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium. Working in 2 batches, dip Cornbread slices into batter (do not soak them), cook in skillet until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes per side. 

Divide French toast evenly among 4 plates; top with reserved blueberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. Serve with room-temperature butter and maple syrup.