Hungree Girl: Pumpkin Bread Pudding

The final recipe in our saga of pumpkin glory. Don't cry too much, there will surely be plenty more pumpkin recipes to come considering I have a list as long as the Nile river. Bread Pudding is a personal favorite dessert of mine. Why? 1) because its extremely versatile and can be flavored/topped/mixed with literally anything my heart desires 2) takes 10 seconds to put together 3) has a balance of textures both soft and moist while still maintaing a crispy crunchy top that I just die for. I've done my fair share of bread pudding creations. Mine have ranged from banana nutella to dark chocolate sour cherry and none of disappointed. When I hopped on this pumpkin craze, I figure I'd throw it into some bread pudding. OH am I glad I did. The pumpkin, fall spices, and white chocolate make for a pudding that's out of this atmosphere. The pumpkin also lends it's beautiful orange color to the dessert which makes it that much more beautiful. I thought about making a white chocolate sauce to pour atop each piece, but when I tried it plain I decided to refrain. It's too good to mess with.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients
1 french baguette, crusty and preferably a little stale
2 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 15oz. can pumpkin, about 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Recipe: Cut the bread into 2 inch pieces. Arrange it into a casserole dish so the whole dish is covered. Stacking is encouraged. In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and milk. Whisk until eggs are well beaten. Furiously whisk in the pumpkin and sugar. Once well combined add the spices. Sprinkle your white chocolate chips on top of the bread and use your hands to distribute them throughout the chunks, leaving some on top. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the bread. Make sure you coat EVERY piece of bread with the orange liquid (nothing worse then dry spots in bread pudding). Use your hand or a wooden spoon to press down on the top of the bread to ensure that each piece gets soaked. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Bake bread pudding for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. It should be fluffy, crusty on the top, and moist but not seeping liquid in the center. Let it rest for 10 minutes then cut yoself a piece.