Bread Pudding With Dried Cranberries and Bourbon

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brush bread slices with butter and toast in oven until golden. Set aside.

2. Step 2

   Heat cream and milk in a small saucepan until almost boiling. Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and eggs until thoroughly mixed. Add orange peel, vanilla extract and the cream-milk mixture and whisk together. Stir in the dried cranberries and salt.

3. Step 3

   Arrange toasted bread in a 9-by-12-inch baking dish in two overlapping rows. Pour in cream mixture and cover with aluminum foil. Put a smaller pan on top and weigh it down so that the bread slices are submerged. Leave overnight or for at least one hour.

4. Step 4

   When ready to bake the pudding, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove pan and weights from top of pudding and punch the foil with holes. Place baking dish in a larger pan of hot water (a bain-marie); the water should be two-thirds of the way up the sides. Bake for an hour and 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the pudding comes out clean. Sprinkle pudding with confectioners' sugar.

5. Step 5

   While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Beat the sugar with the egg yolks until everything is thoroughly mixed. Bring the cream and the milk to boil in a small saucepan with the vanilla extract.

6. Step 6

   Whisk in one-half cup of hot cream mixture into the eggs, then pour the egg and cream mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cream. Whisk over low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the spoon. Be careful not to let it boil, or it will curdle.

7. Step 7

   Remove from heat, add bourbon and cool. Chill until ready to use.

8. Step 8

   Cut pudding into slices and serve warm on a pool of the chilled sauce.