Maple-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Vanilla Cream Sauce
A cozy baking-dish dessert made from day-old bread soaked in a maple and cinnamon custard, baked until puffed and golden, then topped with a simple warm vanilla sauce. A great way to use up leftover bread.
1 hr 30 mins
1 batch of 8
Ingredients
- 8 cups White Bread, day-old cubes, about 1-inch, from brioche, challah, or French bread
- ¼ cup Unsalted Butter, divided (half softened for the dish)
- 4 Eggs, large
- 2 cups Milk (Whole)
- 1 ¼ cups Heavy Cream, divided
- ½ cup Maple Syrup, pure
- 2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ cup Sugar, granulated
- 1 teaspoon Corn Starch
- 1 tablespoon Water, cold
Directions
- 1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish with half of the butter (softened) and spread the bread cubes in it.
- 2. Whisk eggs, milk, a little less than half of the cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, two-thirds of the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until smooth.
- 3. Pour the custard evenly over the bread and press the cubes down gently so they soak. Let stand 15 minutes.
- 4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until puffed, golden on top, and the center no longer looks wet when a knife is inserted.
- 5. While it bakes, make the sauce: warm the remaining cream, granulated sugar, and remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir cornstarch into the cold water, whisk into the pan, and simmer 1 to 2 minutes until lightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining vanilla.
- 6. Cool the bread pudding 10 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm with the vanilla sauce spooned over.
