*Mixed Berry Bread Pudding with Vanilla Custard*

. Soft bread base, juicy berries, and that creamy sauce on top.

*Ingredients –

Serves 6-8:*

*For the Pudding:*

– *Day-old bread*: 6 cups, cubed. Brioche or challah works best

– *Mixed berries*: 4 cups fresh or frozen. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries

– *Eggs*: 4 large

– *Milk*: 2 cups

– *Heavy cream*: ½ cup

– *Sugar*: ⅓ cup

– *Vanilla extract*: 1 tsp

– *Cinnamon*: ½ tsp

– *Salt*: ¼ tsp

– *Butter*: 1 tbsp, for greasing dish

*For the Vanilla Sauce:*

– *Milk*: 1 cup

– *Egg yolk*: 1

– *Sugar*: 2 tbsp

– *Vanilla extract*: 1 tsp

– *Cornstarch*: 1 tsp

*Instructions:*

1. *Prep*: Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°F. If using frozen berries, don’t thaw.

2. *Mix custard*: Whisk eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

3. *Assemble*: Spread bread cubes in dish. Scatter berries over bread. Pour custard evenly over everything. Press bread down gently so it soaks. Let sit 10 min.

4. *Bake*: Bake 35-40 min until golden and set in the center. It should jiggle slightly.

5. *Make sauce*: While it bakes, heat milk in a saucepan until steaming. Whisk egg yolk, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Slowly pour hot milk into yolk mix while whisking. Return to pan and cook on low 2-3 min until thick. Stir in vanilla.

6. *Serve*: Scoop warm pudding into bowls and drizzle with vanilla sauce.

*Tip*: Use slightly stale bread so it absorbs more custard without getting mushy.