Mulitgrain Bread Pudding

Mulitgrain Bread Pudding

This is another odds and ends type recipe since it was purely to use some things taking up space in my fridge. I had milk that was toward the end of it's drinkable life, and yolks left over from my meringue adventures, so this seemed like the thing to make. I also had a loaf of multi-grain French bread that always seems a little dry if it's not eaten a few days after purchasing. So here's the procedure:

Cut one loaf of bread into cubes and place into an greased 9x9 baking dish. Whisk together about 10 yolks, or 4-5 eggs (I just happened to have a container full of yolks, but whole eggs will work fine. The yolks will just make it especially rich.) in a bowl. Whisk in about 3 1/2 cups of milk (about 1/2 cup of this was evaporated milk that I also was sick of looking at in the fridge, but again, regular milk is fine.) Add about 1 1/4 c of brown sugar, about 1/2 t of cinnamon, 1/4 t nutmeg, and any dried fruit or nuts you want to add. This one had walnuts and dates. Pour over the bread and then preheat the oven to 350. While the over in heating let the milk soak into the bread, pressing down to make sure all is soaked. Bake for about on hour. Check after 45 minutes and if the top is getting too dark, but the custard is not cooked, cover with foil and continue cooking until it is completely cooked through. You can tell by inserting a knife and prying the bread apart checking to see if there is any liquid. If there is, it is not done. It must be completely solid throughout. It will be puffed up and golden. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or a nice vanilla sauce. It's good at any temperature, but I like it right out of the oven. I served ours with a maple glaze.