Peanut Butter Bread Pudding with Homemade Butterscotch Sauce *updated*

I had some leftover ciabatta bread yesterday, and I was definitely due for some de-stressing time in the kitchen, so I decided to make bread pudding.  I've been itching to do something with a peanut butter twist, so why not peanut butter bread pudding, right?  I knew that the peanut butter alone would create a very flat, one-dimensional flavor, so in came the idea for the butterscotch sauce.  There is just something very special about the combo of peanut butter and butterscotch.  It just never fails!

This bread pudding was easy to make and tasted divine!  The top was crusty; the inside was soft and moist without being a mono-textured blob.  The peanut butter created a flavor that was warm and slightly salty while just the right amount of sweetness and richness came from the butterscotch topping, and the golden raisins gave the perfect pop of slightly tart brightness to balance the flavor.  Mmmm, tasty perfection!  The cute little cupcake portions were a great touch and a nice little portion control aid...well, at least in theory ;).

Ingredients:
1-1/2c heavy cream
1c milk (I used almond milk because that's what I had on hand)
3/4 c - 1 c sugar (to your taste)
2 TB butter
1  roundedTB of peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks
8 cups of crusty bread cut into 1" cubes (at least day old--I used ciabatta, but French bread or challah is ideal)
1 heaping TB golden raisins, soaked in rum or scotch min. of 30 min. (microwave raisins in rum or scotch 30 sec to speed process)
cinnamon to taste (~ 1/4 tsp or so)
pinch of salt (I add extra because I like mine a little saltier)

homemade butterscotch sauce---this recipe calls for scotch, but I used dark rum because it's what I had on hand and it was absolutely delicious!

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Place sugar, milk, cream, peanut butter, butter, and cinnamon in a sauce pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until homogeneous.  Note that there will still be thin streaks of peanut butter, but the goal is to remove any lumps.

3. Allow mixture to cool

4. Whisk egg yolks and whisk in vanilla and cooled cream mixture.

5. Soak cubed bread in custard and toss in raisins.  Allow bread to soak with custard and raisins for at least 30 minutes, tossing occasionally to ensure that custard is nearly fully absorbed

6. Lightly press soaked bread cubed into a lined muffin pan.  Compress bread pudding mixture lightly to avoid gaps, but also to avoid a one-textured bread pudding.  I like a little crunch and texture variation.

7. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until springy when pressed.

8.  Once baked, drizzle hot bread pudding with butterscotch sauce

9. Remove liners before serving.  If desired, top with a dollop of homemade sweetened whipped cream

*You can mix the leftover egg whites with 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, sugar, and vanilla and make meringue cookies http://www.dominicancooking.com/784-suspiritos-meringues.html or you could always just add the extra egg whites to your eggs for omelettes in the morning, as I did, yum!

References: http://sourkrautkrafts.blogspot.com/2010/08/white-chocolate-bread-pudding-cupcakes.html, http://carpecupcakes.blogspot.com/2010/02/recipe-of-week-bread-pudding-cupcakes.html,