BLUEBERRY PECAN CRUNCH BREAD PUDDING

Blueberry Pecan Crunch Bread Pudding image

Wow, now this is bread pudding. It's warm, moist, creamy, and sweet with a burst of tart from the blueberries. The sweet buttery pecan crumble crunch on top just melts in your mouth. There are a few steps to this and it does take a bit of time (most of it while it chills in the fridge), but it's worth the effort. It's divine!

Provided by JM Avallone

Time 4h

Number Of Ingredients 15

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Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1-2 Tbsp lemon zest, grated
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
2 c half and half
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (real)
1 c pecans, in pieces
2 c fresh blueberries or your favorite berry
1 loaf of bread, I used challah loaf from gf
TOPPING
1 stick butter, softened
1-2 c brown sugar
1 c pecans, in pieces
I had 1 cup of sweet brioche I tossed in the topping

Steps:

1. You can do all these steps the day of just let the custard soaked bread rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes prior to baking. The directions I am giving are for making this overnight. Use any bread you like, any fruit you like. Don't like nuts, leave them out.
2. Tear what ever bread you have on hand into one-inch pieces into a bowl. Cover with a paper towel and leave out overnight. Note: My loaf happened to be 18 oz which I think was too much. I added an extra cup of milk to the egg milk mixture it did not look like it was enough for the 18 oz of bread.
3. For the topping, cream the one cup of brown sugar with the one stick of butter. You can add another half cup of sugar if you like it sweeter.
4. Add pecans cover and chill overnight.
5. You see in this photo a cup or so of bread that I added to the topping mixture? I had a handful of old very sweet brioche bread I bought at Wegmans I did not want to toss out so I thought considering I have reduced the sugar by half in most recipes this might be a good idea. Not necessary of course.
6. If using the bread, mix into pecan/butter mixture and chill overnight.
7. The next day, beat cream cheese, zest, and sugar until creamy.
8. Add milk and beat carefully.
9. Add salt and vanilla. Beat.
10. Add one egg at a time beating in between each. Set aside. You will want the bubbles that have formed to diminish as much as possible before adding to the bread.
11. Butter a 9x13 glass pan lightly. Then sprinkle turbinado, aka demerara sugar, over the butter lightly. Or, use any sugar you have handy.
12. Put a handful of bread covering bottom. Sprinkle some pecans and blueberries.
13. I was able to do this three times at the end press bread down.
14. Pour the egg milk mixture over the entire surface.
15. Cover and let sit overnight.
16. The next day, take the bread pudding and topping out of fridge let the chill come off. Break apart the topping and add to the bread pudding.
17. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes depending on your oven. You do not want to overcook it, so after 35 minutes test it with a knife you want it to come out clean.
18. I have seen some people top this dish with a sauce of 2 cups of confectioners sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla and 4-6 tsp of water or milk just enough to make a smooth sauce that you can drizzle. Or you can use a dollop of ice cream or whipped topping.