I knew I had to make this recipe as soon as I saw it. Caramel. Pumpkin. Pecan. BREAD PUDDING. A lovely reader, Brenda, kindly sent it to me. Several days passed. I got all the ingredients together. (I didn’t have the half and half.) The heavens opened. Light shined down. I was ready!!! I had everything!
Only I had completely lost her email with the recipe. Looked everywhere. New mail. Old mail. Deleted mail. (Not that I would delete it, but accidents happen.) The email had disappeared! The heavens closed up and my world went dark.
Okay, that is so dramatic.
But seriously, I was bummed.
However! Brenda came through and sent it to me again and I copied it like ten times to be sure I couldn’t lose it again. And then I made it.
And here it is! It’s delicious and it’s very autumn-ish and Thanksgiving-ish. I bet you could even make it with all milk instead of half and half, it would just be a little less rich. I used fresh pumpkin puree, but you can used canned solid pack pumpkin.
I bet you could even throw a little bourbon in there somewhere. Like a quarter cup in the bread pudding and a couple tablespoons in the sauce. I didn’t, because I’m out. (Too much Maple Pecan Pie with Bourbon.) But you can!
Of course I used Grandmother Bread for the bread in the recipe.
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How to make Caramel Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding:
For the bread pudding
4 large eggs
2- 15 oz cans solid pack pumpkin or 2 pints fresh pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup half and half
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
10 cups cubed bread pieces
Whisk everything together but the bread in a large bowl until well blended. Add the bread and stir well to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 8-24 hours.
I totally didn’t do that, but you should. If you want to. I baked it right away. Because I’m like that. Impatient.
When you’re ready to bake it, spoon the bread pudding mixture into a greased 13 x 9 pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour. The original recipe called for baking this in ramekins. For me, it took a full hour to get done in a 13 x 9 pan. Adjust accordingly if you use ramekins. Also, you might need to cover the top with foil–the original recipe suggested that. I found it unnecessary. It browned just right without it. Except for a few burned nuts. Don’t be picky.
During the last 15 minutes of baking, start preparing the caramel sauce topping.
Caramel Pecan Sauce
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
You need to heat the chopped pecans in a skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, just until lightly toasted. (Maybe five minutes.) Best thing to do is put those puppies in an iron skillet. Meanwhile, cook the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in a small pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pecans.
Remove the bread pudding from the oven and drizzle with the caramel pecan sauce. Bake for five more minutes or until sauce is thoroughly heated. Behold the giant pan of bread pudding with caramel sauce on top.
I burned some of the nuts on top. But I didn’t care.
It was THAT GOOD!
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Posted by Suzanne McMinn |
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Ten calendars! Ten winners! (Pictured in this post are just some of the calendar pages from A Very Clover Calendar. You can see the entire calendar at my CafePress page.)
Without a doubt, the most wonderful readers on the internet are right here. Not only are you wonderful to me, you are wonderful to each other. YOU amaze ME every day. A few days ago, I received an incredible email. I can’t tell you the whole story. I can’t tell you the name of the lovely person providing this giveaway. She would like to remain anonymous. What I can tell you is why she is doing this. She recently lost a dear loved one and the holidays are very difficult for her this year. Rather than dwell on her own sadness, she wants to do something to bring happiness to others. And so she offered to provide ten 2010 Chickens in the Road calendars to the readers of my blog. It was, she said, the money she would have spent on Christmas gifts this year for the loved one she has lost. (Can you read this without crying? I can’t!)
It’s very important to her that the contest be open to everyone–not just U.S. readers. Everyone can enter, no matter where you live!
Contest entry period: You can enter to be one of the ten winners every day starting today (November 18) until 6 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time) on November 25. The winners will be drawn that evening (November 25) so that I can have my blog, with the winners, set and ready to appear at my usual early-morning posting time on Thanksgiving Day (November 26).
Prizes: Ten calendars will be given away by random drawing. There will be ten winners, one calendar for each winner. (If you’ve already bought the 2010 Chickens in the Road calendar, you can still enter! You might win a second one to give away and share the love!)
Who is eligible: EVERYONE!
How to enter: Two ways to enter!
1. You can enter once per day by leaving a comment on the latest blog post.
2. You can get in additional (up to 10 more) entries every day by posting on the Chickens in the Road forum. Each forum post you make (up to 10 per day) counts as an additional entry. The only thing I ask there is that you please actually join in and participate in (or start) discussions on the forum as your entries. (Please don’t simply post something like “contest entry!” as your forum posts–those won’t count.) We have a lot of fun over there, so I hope this will encourage some of you to c’mon! Talk to us!
*Note: It’s not necessary to state in either your blog comments or in your forum posts that you are posting as a contest entry. ALL blog comments (one per day per person) and forum posts (up to 10 per day per person) will be automatically entered in the drawing.
Good luck to everyone! You have all given so much to me simply by being here (not to mention all the voting!), and I am so glad to be able to provide this opportunity to give something back to you. And thank you thank you thank you to the anonymous donor making it possible!
Please vote today to help me get this job! Read why I want this job so badly here if you missed it. Remember that you can vote every day. And please tell everybody you know? (If you weren’t here yesterday, see my contestant video either here or at my voting page on the SAM-e site.)
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THANK YOU! Watch the vote count here. It’s sort of addicting. (They have now sorted the list alphabetically, so you’ll find me near the bottom.)
The voting runs through December 7. These are early, early days yet and the competition is going to be fierce, so please stay with me!
And don’t forget–comment here for your first entry of the day for the calendar giveaway. Then go here to make additional entries: The Chickens in the Road forum.
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