Blueberry Bread Pudding

My oldest son, Ricky, is a foodie, and has been since the day he was born. In 2005, while undergoing treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, he received a Make-A-Wish trip. His choice? To visit Food Network and meet Emeril Lagasse. Bam baby boy.

I had long been a fan, but after meeting him, and seeing the incredible, stunning graciousness the man showed my boy, I have more respect for the man and his art and passion than I could ever have believed. He's a good man. 'Nough said.

While we were there, we got autographed copies of Emeril's cookbooks for children. We spent many happy months cooking our way through both books. Our copies are stained and torn and so beloved. One of our favorite recipes was for a Blueberry French toast casserole for breakfast. I tweaked and played with it a lot - we had blueberry bushes in our yard and had bushels of them - and came up with this. Blueberry Wishes Bread Pudding - in honor of Emeril and Make-A-Wish. That was the original inspiration for this dish. Could be breakfast. Could be desert. Bombshell.

Blueberry Wishes Bread Pudding

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 16 slices whole wheat bread
• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese
• 1 cup blueberries
• 10 large eggs
• 2 cups half and half
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup lemon juice

• Blueberry Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1½ cup blueberries
• 2 tablespoons butter

Mixture can set for an hour, but overnight is better

1. Butter a large baking dish
2. Cube the bread into 1 inch pieces, and put half in the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Whisk together the eggs, cream cheese, half and half, syrup, blueberries and lemon juice. Cream cheese can be a little lumpy. The mixture doesn't have to be smooth, just well combined.
4. Pour half of egg mixture over bread cubes in the baking dish. Place remaining bread cubes on top and pour remaining egg mixture over bread to cover. Tuck all the bread down, so that there's a nice even layer with all bread soaking and getting satisfied. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350, removing baking dish from the fridge, and allowing to come to room temperature
6. Bake the dish for ½ hour covered, then remove the cover and finish for another ½ hour. The pudding will puff a bit, and the top will turn a pretty golden brown when done
7. Serve with the blueberry sauce.

For the sauce: 

Combine all the ingredients except the butter in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Let the mixture cook for a few minutes, or until the blueberries burst. Add the butter, and serve with the blueberry pudding.