• Coat bottom and sides of 7x11" or 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray (if using the smaller size, bake it much longer due to the depth of the ingredients - - nearly one hour).
• Place half of the bread pieces in the dish.
• Scatter the chunks of cheese over the bread.
• Scatter 1 cup of the berries over the mascarpone cheese.
• Top with the remaining bread cubes.
• In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and syrup.
• Pour over the bread mixture.
• With a flat spatula, gently push down the bread so that every piece is soaked in the egg-cream-syrup mixture.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.
• Remove foil and bake 30 minutes or more until puffed up.
• ** As mentioned above, if using the smaller baking pan size, as I did, the baking time is nearly one hour. I also turned the oven up to 375 during the last half hour of baking.

For The Raspberry Sauce

• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil over medium high heat or until thickened.
• Gently fold in the remaining 1 cup raspberries and the butter.
• Stir until the butter melts.
• Remove the French toast from the oven and serve immediately with the sauce.