Re-post: Tres Leches Bread Pudding in a Crock Pot

#TBS - Throw Back Sunday (yes, I made that up) - the recipe is worthy of a repeat but more importantly, the memory of when, where and how I ate this for the first time:

Good times are worth remembering.
Good friends are worth cherishing.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend but they can't make you giggle like a first grader the way a girl friend can.  The impact of a good friend is immeasurable and indescribable.  Whether you are in first grade or forty...  sometimes you just have to giggle.

Ingredients:

Bread Pudding

Tres Leches Bread Pudding
(diamond accessories optional)

1.      Nonstick spray like Pam 

2.      2 1/4 cups whole milk 

3.      1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 

4.      1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk 

5.      1/2 cup sugar 

6.      1 Tbsp vanilla extract 

7.      1 tsp ground cinnamon 

8.      1 tsp kosher salt 

9.      9 large egg yolks 

10.  1 loaf challah bread, cut or torn into 1-inch pieces (stale is best) 

Cinnamon Sugar Sauce

1.      3/4 cup sugar 

2.      8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter 

3.      1/2 cup buttermilk 

4.      1 Tbsp light corn syrup 

5.      1 tsp vanilla extract 

6.      1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

7.      Pinch salt 

8.      1 tsp baking soda

Coat the insert of a slow cooker with nonstick spray. Line the insert with aluminum foil for easy removal, letting some foil overhand for handles.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and egg yolks. Toss in the cubed bread and mix to coat all the bread.

Add the mixture to the slow cooker, cover and cook on low until the center of the bread pudding is set, about 4 hours. Remove the lid and cool. Use the foil handles to lift the bread pudding from the slow cooker. Drizzle individual servings with Cinnamon Sugar Sauce.

Cinnamon Sugar Sauce

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, buttermilk, corn syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Remove from the heat and slowly add the baking soda.  At first the sauce will bubble up, just keep stirring.  Sauce will thicken as it cools.