A no fuss, basic bread pudding that can be easily modified to suit any preference. #cookingathome 

My version is not as eggy, a bit closer to French toast, not very sweet, but would go great with maple syrup or caramel sauce.

People who tried this recipe had wildly differing opinions. Some complained that it was bland while others said it was too sweet; likewise, it's too eggy or not custardy enough. Reviewers added in all sorts fruits and nuts and spices. Someone used rum extract, another served it with a rum sauce. The possibilities are endless.

After reading a bunch of reviews, I made the following changes based on my own preferences:
- one review said dry, stale bread works best; I used old homemade baguettes that were in the fridge, the equivalent of 10 slices of white bread [I'll use a bit less bread next time, since it was a tad too firm for me]
- used 3 extra large eggs
- used 1 cup 2% milk 1 cup half & half [I normally have these on hand; you can approximate whole milk by mixing 3 parts 2% to 1 part half & half, so my mixture is a bit richer than whole milk]
- reduced sugar to 1/2 cup and used brown sugar instead
- added 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- added less than 1/4 tsp salt (between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp)
- omitted raisins because I didn't have any [I'll have to shop for raisins next time]
- soaked the bread for 1 hour in a bowl (the bottom portion absorbed a lot of the liquid), then poured the whole thing into a baking pan and let it sit for another hour so the rest of the bread could soak up liquid

I want to try a rum version next. Would raisins soaked in rum be any good?

Recipe is here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bread-pudding-ii