Normally, this is just a great way to use up stale bread, but Vrghr decided to "upscale" it a trifle to make a rich and tasty treat for the shop's Holiday Party last week.

Wuffy tried to find Challah or Brioche bread, but the markets were out. Wuff REALLY wanted a richer and sweeter bread to start with. AH HA! There's a loaf with "Sweet" right on the label! "King Hawaiian" not only makes those lovely sweet rolls and buns, but they make a traditional Hawaiian sweet loaf too!

Vrghr grabbed one of those, and a tray of their sweet Hawaiian rolls, and headed to the 'net to scope out recipes and pick and choose what wuffy wanted from the best of them.

This turned out exceptionally nice! Rich! Sweet! Tender! A nice crust around the edges (more on this below). And fantastic flavors!

Wuff created this one in the Crock Pot, so it would be nice and warm for the party. But the traditional oven-baked version would probably have better results here. This recipe has a lot of sugar, with the sweetened condensed milk and the rest, and the crock gets a wee bit too hot around the edges. So the crust was a bit TOO crunchy and dense at the edges, but the rest of it was divine!

Wuffy served this with two types of sauce, as you can see in the photo. The darker is a home-made Butter-Rum Caramel. And the lighter is a recipe from wuffy's mom, from over 50 years ago: a lovely and simple Vanilla sauce. Vrghr will include both of those below.

This recipe fed 8 folks, and several had two servings.

Ingredients:
1 Loaf King Hawaiian Sweet loaf 2 Doz King Hawaiian rolls (Can sub Challah or Brioche)
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 C Half & Half
5 Eggs (Beaten)
3/4 C granulated (white) Sugar
1/4 C packed Brown Sugar
1/2 stick unsalted Butter (4-5 TBS)
1/2 Raisins (or other dried fruit of choice)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Vietnamese Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Cloves
1/8 tsp Salt
More butter (for casserole dish)

Directions:
Butter a casserole dish well on sides and bottom

With a sharp or bread knife, cut the loaf and rolls into 1 inch cubes. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and place in a very low (200 degree) oven for about 20 minutes to get "stale", while working on the custard.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with a TBS of the half & half until frothy and color lightens slightly, and reserve

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Add the salt, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Stir in the Sweetened Condensed Milk and Half & Half, along with both cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add the raisins and stir in.

Let the mixture come to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes while the raisins plump up.

Remove from heat, and stir in the Vanilla.

Temper the eggs by adding a about 1/2 C of the hot cream mixture and whisking it slowly into the eggs. Repeat this 3 more times. (This keeps the eggs from scrambling when adding back to the hot cream.) Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the hot cream.

Return the custard to low heat and allow to return to a very light simmer, whisking frequently. Cook about 5 minutes. Mixture will thicken.

Remove the bread cubes from the oven and place in the buttered casserole dish.

Turn the oven up to 350 degrees.

Pour the custard mixture over the bread. Using a large spoon, stir the bread to ensure everything is well coated and the mixture is soaking into all the cubes. Make sure to scoop any extra custard off the bottom of the dish and move it back up into the bread.

Let the bread sit for a minute or two, then stir it up again.

Place the casserole dish into the 350 degree oven and bake for 45-60 minutes. Begin checking the dish at 45 minutes, and continue to cook until the custard "sets" in the middle but is still "jiggly".

While the pudding it baking, make the sauces (see below). When baked, remove and cover with foil and allow to set for about 5 minutes to set up a bit more.

Mom's Vanilla Sauce
Ingredients:
3/4 C granulated (white) Sugar
2 TBS Brown Sugar
1 C Water
2 TBS corn starch (in cold water Slurry)
1/2 Stick unsalted Butter (~5 TBS)
1 TBS Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
dash of ground Nutmeg

Directions:
In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, water, Nutmeg and salt, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved.
Add the corn starch slurry and continue to cook until mixture comes to a light simmer, turns translucent, and thickens.
Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. Stir until incorporated.
Serve Warm

Caramel Butter-Rum Sauce
CAUTION! the sugar mixture can cause SEVERE BURNS! Be careful working with the molten sugar.
TIP: The sugar will get darker as it cooks. The caramel flavor becomes more pronounced as it darkens, but it can get bitter if too dark. Be careful cooking it above 300 degrees or it may be more bitter than you wish.

Ingredients:
1 C granulated (white) Sugar
1/4 C water
1 TBS Lemon Juice
1 C Heavy (whipping) Cream
4 TBS Salted Butter
RUM (to taste) (Start with 1-2 TBS and work up)

Directions:
Use a light colored (stainless steel, etc.) Sauce Pan. A dark pan will make it VERY difficult to tell if the sugar mixture is darkening!

Over medium-high heat, in a small, heavy sauce pan bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice mixture to a boil.

You can stir until the sugar just dissolves, but when it does STOP STIRRING and DON'T STIR AGAIN! The sugar will become sensitive and can crystallize if it is stirred! If you want to remove the sugar deposits on the edge of the pan, use a basting brush with some cold water and lightly 'wash' the sugar into the mixture!

Continue cooking until the mixture turns a dark amber. The darker, the more caramel flavor, but too dark will become bitter. Depending on how much water, how humid it is, temperature of your stove, etc., this sugar mixture will take different times to cook. For Vrghr it was about 18 minutes, but wuffy is at 6,000 ft. If you have a candy thermometer, you are going to be beyond the "hard crack" stage, but don't worry because the addition of heavy cream will keep this from becoming a lollipop!

When whisking this next step, use a whisk at leat 10-12 inches long as the cream will foam heavily and release a big burst of steam. If your hand is near the mixture, it could be scalded!

When the sugar reaches the desired color, remove it from heat and immediately whisk in the heavy cream. It WILL foam up a BUNCH! And it will release a lot of steam. Be careful!

Once the cream is stirred in, add the butter and keep whisking until melted and incorporated.

Now is the time to add the RUM. Start with a TBS or 2, and taste and adjust to desired flavor.

Note: Optional, you can add 1/2 tsp of Vanilla here too if you want.

Serve warm.

Plating

Slice pudding into serving portions and serve topped with Vanilla or Caramel Butter-Rum sauce. (or both on either side)
Goes well with whipped cream or ice cream too!

!DEVOUR!