Cooking my way to Italy!

My recipe contests are taking me to the height of adventure this week. I am going to ITALY!  As I pack my bags and dream of all that I will see in the next two weeks, I wanted to share the recipe that is responsible for such an incredible opportunity.  It is a simple bread pudding.  The best thing about this recipe is you can add your own variations- nuts, dried fruits, liquers- whatever suits your fancy!  Hope you enjoy and I look forward to sharing some fantastic Italian foodie photos when I return! Ciao!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Philadelphia Indulgence, milk chocolate , room temperature
• 4 ounces Philadelphia Indulgence, white chocolate
• 8 cups Italian loaf bread, cubed into 1" pieces
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Mix cubed bread in a large bowl with milk chocolate indulgence, stirring to coat all pieces.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine eggs, 1 T vanilla, milk, cream, 1 cup white sugar and mix with a hand mixer until well blended.
4. Pour wet mixture over bread cubes and stir.
5. Let bread sit for 5 minutes to soak up the liquid, stirring once or twice.
6. Pour entire mixture into the casserole dish and cover with foil.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovering the last 5 minutes.
8. To make the sauce, combine butter, white chocolate indulgence, 1/2 C white sugar and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
9. Cook until all sugar has melted and remove from heat and stir in 1 T vanilla.
10. Drizzle part of the sauce over the pudding, reserving the remainder to serve on the side.