BLUEBERRY BREAD PUDDING

This is a terrific recipe to make for a hungry crowd. You do need to plan ahead, as it needs to sit for several hours or overnight before baking. I often start the process two days ahead, letting it sit overnight in the fridge then baking it until nearly done the next day. When it's time for breakfast, I pop it back into the oven, uncovered, and let it finish baking just in time for breakfast.

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Serves 12

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Ingredients

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Bread Pudding:

• 12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature ideally

• A splash of milk and a bit of powdered sugar

• 1 cup fresh blueberries (or more) (or frozen)

• 12 eggs, beaten

• 2 cups milk

• About a tablespoon cinnamon. Maybe more, maybe less – to your taste

• Some nutmeg, to taste (perhaps ½ teaspoon)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ⅓ cup maple syrup

 

Blueberry Thyme Sauce:

• 1 cup white sugar (brown works too)

• 1 cup water

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

• Juice of about ½ a lemon

• A few sprigs of thyme

• 1 tablespoon butter

 

Directions

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• Prepare casserole: Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 1/2 of the bread cubes in the dish.

• Blend the cream cheese with some milk and powdered sugar in a mixer or blender. Using a rubber spatula, schmear a layer of cream cheese over the bread cubes. It will be messy and awkward, but do your best to spread fairly evenly.

• Sprinkle blueberries over the cream cheese, then top with remaining bread cubes.

• Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup together in a large bowl (or in a mixer… you don’t need to worry too much about cleaning it out after you’ve used it for the cream cheese. It all ends up in the same place!) until well-combined; pour over the bread cubes, pressing the bread into the custard so they’re all soggy. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

• Remove casserole from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

• Bake casserole in the preheated oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking until center is firm and surface is lightly browned, about 25 to 30 minutes.

• Meanwhile, prepare blueberry sauce: Mix sugar, water, and cornstarch together in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in blueberries and thyme, reduce heat to low, and simmer until all the blueberries burst, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and butter.