Salted Caramel & Chocolate Bread Pudding

photo courtesty of www.imadedinner.net

Original recipe from www.imadedinner.net

Ingredients (Serves 10)

For the Caramel:

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon salt  (yes, this is a lot of salt but once it's on the bread pudding, its great)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
8 Tablespoons butter

For the pudding:

6 1/2 cups cubed challah or brioche
5 eggs
2 cups milk
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 Toblerone White Chocolate bar (3.52 oz), chopped (optional)
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup raw sugar (optional)

Instructions

For the caramel:

Mix the sugar, salt, and water together in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Set out your butter and cream. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, DO NOT STIR!!

Boil the sugar mixture until a caramel color develops. This happens quickly, so keep a close eye on it!
Stir in the cream and butter, and whisk until the foaming goes down. Simmer until it looks like caramel (a light brown color), then add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Transfer to a heat-safe container (NOT GLASS!!!!)

For the bread pudding:

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Toss the bread cubes with the melted butter. Make sure each cube has at least some butter on it. Layer in a large baking dish: Half the bread cubes, half the chocolate chips, the other half of the bread, and the rest of the chocolate chips and add the optional chopped up Toblerone bar sprinkled on top.

Mix in a bowl: milk, eggs, vanilla, and sugar Pour the milk mixture over the bread. Allow it to sit a few minutes, pressing down on the bread to allow all of it to soak up some of the milk mixture. Sprinkle the top with raw sugar.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pudding no longer jiggles and the top is brown. Pour the caramel sauce over the top of the pudding, return to the oven for about 10 minutes, then serve with fresh whipped cream.