I’ve never had panettone until my family and I received one during the holiday.  It is quite good with a nice cup of tea or coffee; but all the while, I’ve received a few suggestions that it is also great for making bread pudding and french toasts.  Although I’m not a fan of both, I figured, why not give it a go since I still had a generous half portion left for the eating…

On most occasions I am never one to make the ‘usual’.  I like to dig deeper to see what else I can do with the ordinary.  For this recipe I’ve combined the idea of an upside down cake, along with the classic bread pudding aesthetics in tact.  The original recipe was adapted from The Wright Recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

• ¾ tsp. Kosher salt, divided

• 2 Tbsp. cold butter

• 1 lb. panettone, cut into 1-inch slices (I used half the portion)

• 2 cups half-and-half (I used one part evaporated condensed milk / one part organic milk)

• 4 large eggs

• 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

• ½ cup plump golden raisins

• Boiling water for pan

Directions

1. Make caramel: In a small skillet, combine 1 cup sugar,  ¼ tsp. salt and ¼ cup water.  Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar; cook 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly amber in color. Holding pan at an angle away from you, swirl ¼ cup water into the caramel (it will spatter). Pour into the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan; let sit 5 minutes. Swirl the pan to coat the cooling caramel around the bottom and sides of the pan. Dot the caramel with butter. [ NOTE:  The caramel that I used was from a local store that makes in-house homemade caramel.  I added organic milk and butter to the mixture to achieve the caramel sauce–the same method I used for my churros recipe.]
   
2. Meanwhile, make bread pudding: Arrange panettone slices on a large baking sheet. Toast in a preheated 350˚ oven 10 minutes, flipping slices once. While bread toasts, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, and remaining ½ cup sugar and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and stir into custard with raisins; let soak 10 minutes.
3. Bake pudding: Pack bread pudding mixture into prepared cake pan. Place pan in a large roasting pan; pour boiling water into roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Tent pan with foil; bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the pudding is moist (but not runny).
   
4. Remove pan from water bath to cool 10 minutes; run a knife around pudding to loosen. Invert onto a plate and serve warm.