Recipe - Bread Pudding Made With French Bread

8 ounce Stale, dense, french bread
4 tablespoon Butter, softened
One half cup Dried cherries or raisins
3 Large eggs
2/3 cup Plus 2 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
One half teaspoon Almond extract
1 pn Salt
4 cup Milk, heated
One fourth teaspoon Cinnamon

Slice bread 1/2" thick. Butter 1 side of each slice.
Butter 1 One half qt. shallow baking dish. Arrange one half the bread,
buttered side up, in single layer in dish. Sprinkle with cherries or
raisins. Top with another layer of bread slices. Whisk eggs, One half cup sugar
and vanilla and almond extracts, and salt in bowl. Whisk in hot milk. Pour
custard over bread.
Press bread into custard. Let stand 30 minutes.
Press again. Preat oven to 350 degrees. Place baking dish in larger
baking pan. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Sprinkle over
pudding. Pour boiling water in large pan halfway up side of dish. Bake 45
to 50 minutes until golden. Serve warm with cream.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini