Banana Caramel Bread Pudding

To make the caramel, place the water, sugar and corn syrup (or lemon juice) in a medium saucepot and have the cream and butter measured and on hand. Bring the sugar up to a full boil on high heat without stirring and continue to boil, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pot with water, until the sugar turns a light amber colour, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the cream and butter, watching out for the steam and bubbling. Once the bubbling subsides, add the vanilla and salt. Set aside to cool while preparing the other components (but the caramel can still be warm when using).

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Grease six 6-ounce (180 mL) ramekins and place then in a roasting pan that can be filled with water.

Spread the egg bread cubes on a baking tray and toast for about 10 minutes to dry them out. Place them into a large bowl.

Whisk the pureed banana with ½ cup (125 mL) of the caramel sauce (reserving the remaining ¾ cup/175 mL for plating the desserts). In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks with the granulated sugar and whisk in the banana caramel and milk. Pour this over the egg cubes, add the raspberries and chocolate chips and toss well to coat. The custard will absorb into the bread quickly so just stir it once or twice to ensure all the bread has softened, and then ladle this into the prepared ramekins. Pour boiling water around the ramekins and bake the bread puddings for about 50 minutes, until a tester inserted into the centre of one comes out clean. Remove the ramekins from the water bath onto a cooling rack, and let them cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Alternatively, they can be prepared in advance, chilled and then re-warmed.

For the peanut praline, line a baking tray with parchment paper. Bring the water, sugar and corn syrup up to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Continue boiling, without stirring but occasionally brushing the sides of the pot with cool water to prevent crystalizing, until the caramel is a light amber colour. Remove from the heat and immediately add the peanuts to the caramelized sugar and stir to coat. If you find that the caramel crystalizes on the peanuts just warm on low heat to melt the sugar again. Spread this onto the prepared baking tray and set aside to cool. Once cooled, roughly chop the praline for sprinkling.

To serve, run a palette knife around the inside edge of a ramekin and turn the bread pudding out (flip it so the crunchy top is upright) and place on a plate. Drizzle with warm caramel sauce and top with chopped praline peanuts.