Southport Grocery and Cafe's Bread Pudding Pancakes with Vanilla Custard Sauce and Cinnamon Sugar Butter

ngredients

Vanilla Custard Sauce:
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks, whisked
Cinnamon Sugar Butter:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Bread Pudding Pancakes:
14 slices firm white bread, cut into 1-inch squares
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions

For the vanilla custard sauce: Add the heavy cream and the vanilla bean pods and seeds to a saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. In another bowl, add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk together until there are no clumps. Add 1/4 cup of the warm heavy cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture and whisk immediately to temper the eggs. Add the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the heavy cream. Simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Pour the mixture into a bowl and chill over the ice bath.

For the cinnamon sugar butter: Melt 1/4 pound (1 stick) of butter in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, cinnamon and salt and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining 1/4 pound cold butter and whisk with a hand mixer until creamy and fluffy.

For the bread pudding pancakes: Put the bread in a large bowl, add the milk and let soak until softened, about 10 minutes.

While the bread is soaking, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to the bread and gently fold in until just about half incorporated. Add the vegetable oil and eggs and mix gently.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Drop about 1/3 cup of the batter per pancake into the skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Serve the pancakes topped with the cinnamon sugar butter and with a ramekin of vanilla custard sauce on the side.