Grandma Don't Need Her Teeth Bread Pudding

Whew, what a whirlwind couple of weeks it's been!  Last weekend one of my best friends got married, so I was in Blacksburg, VA for her wedding (hence no posting).  A picture of me and the boy once the open bar started to kick in:

My week at work was "awesometastic" (and for those of you who know me well, you know the real meaning of that word...), so I was too tired to bake at night when I got home.  To add insult to the injury of my work week, I had oral surgery yesterday.  I had my last 2 wisdom teeth removed and a dental implant placed for the tooth that I've never had (brotha from anotha motha, anyone?).  I will say the best part about all of this is the guiltless nomming of pudding, ice cream, and as much mac n' cheese as I can eat.

In honor of my inability to eat anything harder than the consistency of baby food for the next week, I've decided to dedicate this week to all things ooey, gooey, and relatively chewless.  This first of this weekend's awesomeness is what I'm lovingly calling Grandma Don't Need Her Teeth Bread Pudding and I'm serving it with a whiskey sauce (to get grandma sauced, of course).

Ingredients:

Pudding -
1 loaf of hearty bread, cubed and dried overnight
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 c dried fruit of choice (I used raisins and some orange essence prunes - don't tell the boy!)
8 eggs
4 c half and half
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze -
3/4 c butter
3/4 c light corn syrup
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c whiskey

Directions:

Spray a 13x9 glass dish (or something comparable) with cooking spray.  Layer the dried bread cubes and dried fruit in the dish and drizzle with the melted butter. 

Combine the eggs, half and half, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.  Pour over the bread and fruit in the dish.  Lightly squish the bread so that it's coated in the egg mixture. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes, or until it springs back when you touch it.

For the sauce, combine the butter, sugar, and corn syrup in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.  Add the whiskey and whisk that sucker good.  Drizzle (or pour...) over the warm bread pudding, and then sit back and enjoy the chewless noms!