Bread Pudding a la Bananas Foster

I love bananas foster. It’s warm and creamy and banana-y. I’ve made it a few times for my family. I also love bread pudding for the same reason, except typically bread pudding isn’t banana-y. Just delicious. Now you I present you a recipe for a bread pudding that features the best of bananas foster. Here’s the recipe:

Bread Pudding a la Bananas Foster

5 eggs

2 cups half and half (you can use heavy cream for a richer texture)

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons banana liqueur

2 Taablespoons rum (dark rum is best)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 bananas, mashed

12 cups cubed white bread

custard sauce

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with Pam. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, half and half, sugar, rum, liqueur, bananas and cinnamon. Add bread - coating well. Let it stand for 20 - 30 minues. Pour into the baking dish. Put the baking dish into a larger roasting pan. Add about 1-inch of water to the roasting pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes 0r until the center is set. If it starts browning too much during the last half of the baking time, you can cover lit ightly with aluminum foil. Remove from the roasting pan. Spoon into dessert dishes and serve with custard sauce.

Custard Sauce

2 egg yolks

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

3/4 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 Tablespoon corn starch

1 Tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons rum

5 Tablespoons butter

In a bowl whisk together the eggs yolks, evaporated milk, brown sugar and milk. In a separate bowl whisk together the corn starch and water until smooth. Add the cornstarchmixture, rum and vanilla to the egg mixture and poour into a medium saucepan. Simmer, whisking continuously until thickened. Remove from heat. Add the butter and mix until melted. Serve warm over the bread pudding.