adapted from The Weekend Gourmet and Emeril Lagasse
Preheat Oven: 350° F.
Butter a 13 X 9 baking dish
Bread Pudding
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Place above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk well to combine.
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup flaked coconut (I added this, just because...)
1 medium apple, peeled and diced in 1/2 inch pieces
3 1/2 cups diced or torn cinnamon-raisin bread (I used Franz.)
Add the next four ingredients to the custard mixture. Stir well to combine all of the ingredients. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish.
Bake for one hour, rotating the dish about halfway through for even cooking. During the last 10 minutes of baking time, sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon) over the top of the pudding. Continue baking. The pudding is done when it is puffy and golden brown.
Bourbon Cream Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3/8 cup bourbon, divided (I used Pendleton Bourbon.)
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Combine cream, milk, and sugar in a one quart saucepan and set over medium heat. Place the cornstarch and 1/8 cup bourbon in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend making a slurry. Pour the slurry into the cream mixture and bring to a boil. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and stir in the butter and the remaining bourbon. Serve warm.