RUSTIC BREAD PUDDING WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Bread Pudding
• Grease a rectangular glass baking dish. (I used a narrow and deep 3 qt baker. A wider and shallower baker may require you to drop the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.)
• Spread the bread pieces evenly in the greased baking dish.
• Melt the 5 Tbsp of butter and set aside. (I use the microwave on a low power setting to avoid washing a saucepan.)
• In a 2-3 quart bowl, ideally with a pour spout, mix the eggs and sugar, then add in the milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Finally mix in the melted butter.
• Gently pour the contents of the bowl over the bread. Use a wide spatula to press the bread downward to soak up more of the liquid.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, removing from the fridge at least once, partway through, in order to mix the bread, mash it down and break it up a little more.
• Preheat your oven to 350 F and remove the baking dish from the fridge. Mix, mash and break up the bread one last time before placing it in the preheated oven to bake.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, covering with foil for the final 15 minutes if the bread pudding seems to be getting too toasted.
• Let it cool at least 20 minutes before serving with the caramel sauce below, ice cream, or whipped cream.
• Caramel Sauce
• In a small saucepan, boil the butter, brown sugar, water, and salt for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat, and add the vanilla extract and 4-6 oz of evaporated milk until you reach slightly less than the thickness you prefer. (The caramel sauce will thicken a bit more as it cools.) I used 6 ounces of evaporated milk. If I were adding bourbon, I would use less evaporated milk.
• Pour or funnel the sauce into a jar. This will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Extra sauce can be frozen in a plastic container.