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1
Mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, the white sugar and the spices in a small bowl. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the sugar and spices, to sprinkle on the pudding before baking.
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2
Toast the bread and butter it generously. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on the slices of buttered toast.
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3
Whisk together the eggs and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Heat the half and half, milk and cream until very hot (so hot that it hurts to put your finger in it, says Shuna Lydon), but not scalding. Dribble a bit of the hot milk and cream into the eggs and sugar, whisking vigorously. Continue to add more of the milk and cream, whisking all the while, until you've added about half of it. Then, add the rest, and the vanilla, and whisk a few more times.
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4
Allow to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold (at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight).
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5
When ready to cook the pudding, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a roasting pan -- one large enough comfortably to hold the baking dish -- in the top third of the oven; fill it about an inch deep with boiling water.
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6
While the oven is warming, peel, core and slice the pears directly onto the pieces of cinnamon toast in the baking dish. Take the custard from the refrigerator and give it a good stir. Then pour it over the pears and toast.
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7
Place the baking dish in the water in the roasting pan. Add more hot water if necessary to bring the level up to about 3/4 of the contents of the baking dish.
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8
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.
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9
Enjoy!! ;o)
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10
N.B. Whether you use four or five (or even six) slices of bread depends on the size of the loaf. You want enough bread to make two good layers of toast pieces. If you lay two slices into your baking dish and there's a fair bit of room left, make one or two more slices, as needed. Remember though that you want to leave a bit of room between all the small pieces, once cut, for the custard.
