Cranberry Bread Pudding with Daffodil Lemon Sauce

 
Cranberry Bread Pudding
1 c sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 C orange juice
7 slices whole grain bread (I use Grandma Sycamore's Sunflower & Honey)
8 beaten eggs
4 c milk
2/3 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla - LorAnn has the best flavor
1/4 tsp salt

Simmer cranberries and orange juice in microwave for 30 seconds. Cut or tear bread into cubes. Mix with Craisins. Place in 10 x 10 or 9 x 11 pan. Mix eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour over bread.   Push all the bread into the egg/milk mixture until thoroughly saturated.  Bake at 325º for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Center will set as pudding cools. Serve and top with lemon sauce. If you're not going to serve it for a while, cover the bread pudding while it's still warm to retain the moisture.

Daffodil Lemon Sauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
dash salt
dash nutmeg
3 cups water
6 beaten egg yolks
3/8 cup butter - cut into pats
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
3/8 cup lemon juice

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and nutmeg. Gradually stir in water. Cook and stir over low heat until thick and bubbly. Stir a little hot mixture into egg yolks; return slowly to hot mixture while stirring. Cook and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; add butter, lemon peel and juice; blend. 

Hint: The last time I made raspberry torte I froze the leftover egg yolks in anticipation of making this sauce for Christmas.  Waste not, want not?  Anyway, they froze great and when I thawed them all I did was put them in the blender with a half of a cup of the 3 cups of water in this recipe, blended them, and then added them to the bubbly syrup.