Pumpkin Bread Pudding

First of all this is Pumpkin infused/flavored Bread Pudding, not bread pudding made from Pumpkin bread....ohhhhh the nuances of cooking! I used a recipe I found on Pinterest.....I know people probably think I must just sit in my pajamas and surf Pinterest all day long because I mention it so much but I actually do have a life outside of the magic boards of wonder. The pin I found was adapted from a magazine recipe which you can find here.

Let me give you a bit of back story before the recipe. I work in an office that frequently has catered lunches. Occasionally there are leftovers but not your typical left overs they are things like a gallon of refried beans or 3 quarts of salsa. While most people would just shake their heads and mutter about it being such a waste, I see it as a challenge. I retreat to my fantasy world where I am a contestant on Iron Chef and find a solution for this extra food conundrum. This weeks spare parts consisted of:
- 2 sleeves (a total of 24) of ginormous hamburger buns
- a gallon of creamed corn

The first thing I made was corn chowder. It consisted of the corn, potatoes, sausage, made into a thick soup and it was yummy. I also made some croutons out of a few of the buns. I brought the chowder and croutons to the office and needless to say I took nothing back home.  (I forgot to take pictures and document that one) but it was a winner!  Yayyyy!

Which brings me to the bread pudding.

The comments from my official taste testers were:
"Yummy! Tastes like pumpkin pie coffee cake"
"Good either way, but is better warm"
"Would be good with a caramel sauce"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LEFT OUT THE BOURBON!"
"Might be good with a brown sugar frosting"
Here is my version of the recipe:

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 can solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 8 cups (or so) cubed hamburger buns that were very soft (or if you don't happen to have a bazillion buns to use, crusty bread of any kind will work)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• pecans- to taste
• brown sugar - I dunno......an generous handful?
• powdered sugar.....1 cup, 2 cups?... until you have enough, whatever that is
•  
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Whisk together all the remaining ingredients except pecans, brown sugar and powdered sugar. Melt butter and toss bread cubes with butter in a ziploc, coating thoroughly. Spread bread pieces in large casserole dish and pour pumpkin mixture over all. Sprinkle with pecans and brown sugar and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix together powdered sugar and water and after baking drizzle on top.

*Remember, it's ok to alter a recipe, cooking should be a creative process, not a chore, make it your own. :)