Caramelized Custard Bread Pudding

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (optional)
• 10 slices bread, cubed (fresh bread is better but stale bread works, too)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5 eggs
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons butter

Recipe

• 1 cover raisins with water and orange juice. soak while preparing other ingredients, or cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
• 2 in a saucepan, heat milk, half and half, and butter but do not allow to boil. cool slightly.
• 3 combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. reserve 2 tablespoons of brown sugar mixture for sprinkling on top later.
• 4 in a separate saucepan, add the remaining brown sugar mixture, vanilla, and eggs. whisk until smooth.
• 5 pour heated milk mixture into sugar mixture. add baking powder and whisk until smooth.
• 6 place 1/2 of bread cubes in a 2-quart casserole dish.
• 7 thoroughly drain raisins and discard soaking liquid. spread 1/2 cup raisins over the bread.
• 8 top with rest of bread cubes. sprinkle remaining raisins on top.
• 9 pour the milk mixture over the bread until the bread is saturated. let stand for 5 minutes.
• 10 sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar mixture over top.
• 11 place bread pudding dish in a larger pan. carefully, add very hot water to larger pan to within 1/2 inch of tops of casserole dish. bake at 350f degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted 1 inch from rim.
• 12 serve warm or cold.