Bread Pudding

I was having a hard time finding a recipe I thought I'd like, so I took a few different recipes and tweaked them and this is what I came up with. I do served it with the brown sugar sauce from recipe 52349 and with Creme Anglaise.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1  loaf  challah (I used a 1lb loaf with raisins)
• 3  eggs, beaten
• 2  cups heavy cream
• 1⁄2 cup half-and-half or 1⁄2 cup milk
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2  teaspoons vanilla
•  cinnamon
•  creme anglaise
• 1  cup half-and-half
• 1⁄2 vanilla bean, split
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 4  egg yolks

Directions

1. cut the loaf of bread into cubes, about 1"x1".
2. put the cubed bread in a greased 8"x11" glass pan (or similar size).
3. Mix the cream, half and half, sugar, salt and vanilla and pour over bread. Use the back of a wooden spoon to press the bread down to sop up all the mixture.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon to your own taste and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
5. CREME ANGLAISE (I like to make this ahead of time).
6. Set a large fine strainer over a medium bowl and set the bowl in a shallow pan of cold water.
7. In a large saucepan, combine the half-and-half and vanilla bean and cook over moderately low heat just until small bubbles appear around the rim, about 5 minutes.
8. In another medium bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks just until combined. Whisk in half of the hot half-and-half in a thin stream. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately strain the sauce into the bowl in the cold water bath to stop the cooking. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the sauce. Serve right away or refrigerate until chilled.