Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

1 loaf (1 lb.) stale Louisiana-style French bread, broken into chunks

8 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanila extract

1 cup pecans, coarsely broken

1 cup raisins

about 2 cups milk

Cinnamon (optional)

Nutmeg (optional)

Hard sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tbsp bourbon

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, stir together the bread, eggs, sugar, vanilla, pecans and raisins. Add enough milk so that the mixture “breaks milk” when squeezed (the bread can absorb no more milk). Add a shake of cinnamon and nutmeg, if desired.
  2. Scrape into a greased shallow 10-cup baking pan and bake for 35 minutes or unto cooked through.
  3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a small bowl, with an electric mixer, cram the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add the bourbon and beat until the texture of sour cream.