Maple Nut Bread Pudding

Cold winter nights beg for some comfort foods and when you bake this bread pudding in individual dishes it suddenly becomes a company dessert which smells wonderfully fragrant. I pop it in the oven while dinner is being served.

• 1 french bread which is a half recipe of Anneliese's French Bread
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1 cup toasted walnuts
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Thinly cut off the crust of the bread and cube into 1 inch cubes.
2. Butter individual gratin dishes.
3. Divide the bread between the dishes. I made the recipe into 6 dishes.
4. Sprinkle the cranberries over the bread.
5. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts over the bread.
6. In a large measuring cup, beat the eggs, add the milk, cream, flavoring and syrup and salt.
7. Pour over the bread and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.
8. Remove plastic wrap and bake @ 350 F about 25 minutes or until browned and set.
9. Serve warm with ice cream.