Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This dessert is great during the fall when pumpkin seems to be everywhere. This recipe from Table 10 was tested using a day-old loaf of ciabatta bread, but any crusty bread that is not overly dense will work well. Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 12 to 16 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 7 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pinches ground cloves
• A pinch of salt
• One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 pound crusty bread*, cubed (about 12 cups cubed bread)
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving
• Caramel Sauce, for serving, recipe follows

• Caramel Sauce

• 2 cups sugar
• ½ cup water
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• A pinch of salt

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 300° F.  Grease a 9- by 13-inch baking pan with the butter and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs together with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk in the pumpkin purée, then the heavy cream.
• Add the cubed bread and stir well to combine. Let the bread sit in the egg mixture for 10 minutes, then transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until the bread pudding is set and crispy on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 ½ hours.
• Serve the bread pudding warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.