browned butter bread pudding + salted caramel sauce.

I wanted this blogpost to consist of just one line and tons of beautiful pictures. But it's difficult to capture the process/result of what you're making when you are making these things in a dorm. And then coordinating the surprise party.

So just the recipe it is for this one!

Browned Butter Bread Pudding
adapted slightly from here.

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup water 
• 1 Tb salt 
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
• 8 Tb butter 

Bread Pudding
It's not really that cinnamony. If you want cinnamon bread pudding, add one full teaspoon. 

• 7 cups challah bread, cubed or ripped into generally same size chunks 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar 
• 5 large eggs 
• 2 cups milk (I used whole & it came out well) 
• 1 tspn vanilla 
• 1/2 tspn cinnamon 

Caramel

1. Whisk together sugar, salt, and water in a medium or large saucepan. Heat over the stovetop, whisking to dissolve. 
2. Cut the butter into chunks, leaving a small sliver on a side to grease the pan for the pudding. Heat the cream till steaming. Set aside. 
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, do not stir and allow the mixture to bubble. Watch carefully for color to start develop. Over medium heat, it will take at least 10 minutes. The mixture will take on a caramel color extremely quickly, so after 10-12 minutes, turn the heat to low and watch for a few minutes to see if the mixture becomes amber. 
4. Once amber, remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add the butter chunk by chunk. The caramel will start to bubble up. Add butter in increments to ensure the mixture doesn't bubble over. Then add cream. Do this fairly quickly. 
5. Pour mixture into a heat safe container and let cool completely. It will thicken - don't worry. Before using, heat for a little while until liquid and sauce-like. Otherwise, store in fridge. 

Bread Pudding 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9" pan with that small sliver of butter you set aside. 
2. Brown the butter. Put in a small pot and melt. Let it simmer and foam, whisking occasionally. The foam will start to brown slightly first, which is a warning sign. All of a sudden the butter will darken significantly and become fragrant. At this point, quickly remove pot from heat and pour butter carefully into bowl. 
3. Toss the bread cubes with the butter. Try to coat each piece in that goodness. 
4. Arrange bread in an even layer in the prepared pan. 
5. Make the custard mixture by whisking together the sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir in cinnamon. Pour over the bread mixture and let sit for about five minutes, making sure every piece is soaking in the custard mixture. 
6. Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool till able to touch the pan. Then serve warm, with the slightly heated salted caramel sauce. Indulge.