French Toast Bread Pudding

Every year I went out to Montauk during the summer (the very east most point on Long Island) for a little R&R with my mom, gram, and brother. Dad would join us the last weekend after he was done with work. Even before I came into existence, this had been an annual tradition for my mom and gram, I think beginning right after my great-gram had passed away.

Anyway, in Montauk there is a great breakfast place - Mr. John's Pancake House and we would eat there almost every morning. There was always a wait to get in, and the staff there knew my mom and gram by their first names.

My standard fare for breakfast has always been french toast with bacon. My gram would always chime in "make sure the french toast is well dipped". What she meant by this was make sure the bread is well soaked through before you put it on the griddle. Otherwise the egg scrambles and hangs off of the bread. Or you get scrambled eggs on top of your soggy bread. YUCK! (Incidentally, Tom and I went to a nice place for our anniversary last year and the shrimp was egged and breaded and just what I hate happened -- there were scrambled eggs hanging off the shrimp... BLECH)

A few weeks ago Tom and I went to the Farmer's Market at the park downtown, and a co-worker of mine was helping out Vossen's Bakery at their booth. When he saw me he gave  me a loaf of raisin bread for free! By itself I wasn't sure what to do with it since it was a sweet bread, but then I though - AHA! French Toast Bread Pudding! I saw Ina Garten make this on her show one day, and it looked delish. I didn't use her whole recipe -- just the basics, and then made it my own. This method makes it custardy, and the bread is definitely soaked through (which is what made me think of my gram) -- no scrambled eggs on my french toast here! This is perfect if you have a crowd for breakfast and don't want to slave over the stove, or you can just serve it up traditionally here, with a scoop of vanilla custard and maple syrup drizzled over. The recipe is also pretty versatile - you can really add in whatever you like. Ina's recipe is here if you want other inspiration.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Slice your sweet bread (raisin bread, challah, etc...) about 3/4" or so thick. This is not an exact science.
Line an 8 1/2" x 11" baking dish with one layer of your bread, breaking it into smaller pieces if necessary to fill the cracks
Repeat with a second layer of bread.
Mix together 5 cups of milk and 8 eggs wells, and add cinnamon to taste
Pour your mixture over the bread, and once you have poured it all in, put small plates on top to weight your bread for about 10 minutes (this will ensure your bread it soaked through)

Place your baking dish into a roasting pan, and fill the roasting pan with lukewarm water, about 1" up the side of the baking dish.
Tightly wrap the top with aluminum foil, and then cut a few slits into the foil to vent. Make sure the foil does not touch your bread pudding.

Bake for 45 minutes with the foil on, and then remove the foil and bake for another 45 minutes (at which time it will be puffed and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and try not to burn your mouth as you gobble it down!