Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce... and a book give-away!

   Christine is the lucky winner of the book Little Flower:  Recipes from the Café.  Thank you to everyone who left a comment on this post!

  
   After reading a Wall Street Journal review of Little Flower: Recipes from the Café, making something from Christine Moore's newly-released cookbook was paramount for me.  From what I read, I was already in love with the book.  I found this recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce online through LA  Weekly, which also had a stellar review of the book (read review here).  I quickly got to work making the bread pudding, and let me just say, my husband and daughter are crazy for this!  Silly me... I halved the recipe, thinking the size was far too large for 2 or 3 people.  After giving a big portion to my neighbor this morning, there is nothing left, to our dismay.  Think Thanksgiving dessert!  I would happily replace my favorite pumpkin pie with this bread pudding.  And every recipe for breakfast, lunch, and dessert in this book sounds that good.

 

 
    I feel very fortunate to be able to give a copy of Little Flower: Recipes from the Café to a reader of LivingTastefully.  All you need to do to be entered into the drawing, is leave a comment -- all viewers outside of the U.S. included!  You will have through midnight October 12 to enter.  A winner will be chosen the following day and announced through this post.

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              recipe from Little Flower: Recipes from the Café by Christine Moore

• 8 cups day-old crusty bread, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 pound (about 1 cup) Little Flower or other high-quality sea salt caramels

1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until bread starts to color, about 15 minutes. Generously grease a 9-inch by 13-inch casserole with butter or cooking spray. Arrange toasted bread cubes in a single layer in the prepared casserole. Whisk together the pumpkin, 2 cups cream, milk, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Strain the custard through a sieve before pouring into prepared casserole. Let soak for 15 minutes. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and return to the oven to bake until custard is set, about 25 more minutes.

2.  When the pudding is almost finished baking, melt the caramel with the remaining 1/2 cup of cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat when caramel has completely melted. Pour caramel sauce over the pudding immediately after it comes out of the oven.

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