Bourbon Bread Pudding With Variations - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
5 cups cubed stale brioche bread or 5 cups challah
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup whole milk (I use skim- works out fine)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons Bourbon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly whipped cream

Preparation

Butter a 9x9 baking dish and put bread in it. Sprinkle with pecans.
In a large bowl, whisk together half-and-half, milk, eggs, butter, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
Pour the custard mixture over the bread and stir to coat evenly. Let the pudding sit for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until puffy and set. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.
Serve with fresh whipped cream.
Variations: add one large chopped apple (try: Cameo, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, or Rome); one large sliced banana; or 1/2 cup golden raisins. I think blueberries might be good, too, but I haven't tried that yet.
Note: If your bread is fresh, toast it for 8-10 minutes on a baking sheet before you begin.