eggnog bread pudding with vanilla cream sauce

i am a bread pudding fanatic. especially the white chocolate bread pudding at coastal flats! have mercy! anyway, this is some good stuff. rich and delicious. feel free to add rum instead of vanilla to the cream sauce.
ingredients:
- 2 eggs -
- 2 cups eggnog - recipe linked below
- 1 teaspoon vanilla -
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg -
- 10 slices cinnamon raisin bread - cubed
- - vanilla cream sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter -
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch -
- 1/4 cup brown sugar -
- 1/4 cup white sugar -
- 1 1/2 cups half and half -
- 1 tablespoon vanilla -
instructions:
- preheat oven to 350 degrees. coat a 2-qt. shallow baking dish with nonstick spray.
- whisk eggs well in a large bowl. add in the eggnog, vanilla and nutmeg. whisk to combine.
- cut the bread slices into 1" cubes. pour them into a baking dish evenly. pour the eggnog mixture over the top of the bread. gently push the bread down into the egg mixture, allowing it to soak into the bread. let stand for 15 minutes until bread is softened. bake uncovered 50 - 60 minutes or until set. serve warm or at room temp with vanilla cream sauce.
- for cream sauce: melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. stir in sugars and cornstarch into the butter. whisk in milk, and cook whisking frequently until the mixture begins to boil. continue cooking until thick, stirring constantly. remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. serve warm over eggnog bread pudding.
note: i did not add any sugar to this recipe. with the sugar in the eggnog and the sweet raisin bread, i thought it had enough sweetness. also, topping it with a sweet cream sauce, made it perfect. feel free to add sugar to taste.