French Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

According to Dave, Janis makes The. Best. Bread. Pudding. He is literally obsessed with it - anytime she is bringing dessert he crosses his fingers and prays she'll make bread pudding. Seriously he's kind of obnoxious about it LOL but she's a good sport and makes it. I've made bread pudding once (not this recipe - click here for a different one) and it was good, but she is the master and was nice enough to share the recipe - trust me, if you like bread pudding you are going to love this!

FRENCH BREAD PUDDING WITH WHISKEY SAUCE

Serves 6

Bread Pudding

1 cup sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

5 eggs, beaten

2 cups heavy cream

Dash of cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ cup raisins or dried cranberries

12 slices, each 1-inch thick, fresh or stale French bread

Whiskey Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 cinnamon stick or a dash of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ teaspoon  cornstarch

1 tablespoon bourbon

¼ cup additional water

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter.  Add eggs, cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins or dried cranberries.  Mix well and pour into a 9-inch square pan.

3.  Arrange bread slices flat in the egg mixture and let stand for 5 minutes to soak up some of the liquid.  Turn bread over and let stand for 10 minutes longer.  Then push bread down so that most of it is covered by the egg mixture.

4.  Set pan in a bain-marie (placing pan with pudding in a large shallow pan of warm water).  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, uncovering pudding for the last 10 minutes to brown the top. When done, the custard should still be soft, not firm.

5.  To make the sauce:  In a saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup cream, cinnamon, and butter.  Bring to a boil.  Add in the cornstarch mixed with the ¼ cup water and cook, stirring until sauce is clear (like skim milk).  Remove from the heat and stir in whiskey.

6.  To serve:  Spoon the warm pudding onto dessert plates and pass the sauce separately.

Bread pudding can also be served without the sauce and replaced with vanilla ice cream.