My BUDÍN or Frangelico Liquor-Chocolate Chips and Cranberries Bread Pudding

​Today I am deviating just a bit from the traditional bread pudding that I learned to make when I was a teenager in Puerto Rico. I am using the basic ingredients; however, I added my own twist to it, i.e., Frangelico liqueur, chocolate chips, fresh nutmeg, coconut milk and condensed milk instead of sugar. I also used fresh Artisans Bread instead of stale bread. You can also use brioche or any other sweet bread of your choice.
 
Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 1 hour
Approximate Cost: $13.65 or $1.71 per serving
Difficulty Level:     X    Easy ____ Intermediate ____ Advanced
Servings: 8 to 10
 
Ingredients
A:1 lb. or Artisan sliced bread (2.99)
 
B: Custard
1 can 12 oz. evaporated milk ($1.00)
1 13oz. can of Goya coconut milk ($1.99)
1 14 oz. can condensed milk ($1.99)
3 beaten eggs (.48)
1 tbsp. Frangelico ($1.45)
1 tsp. vanilla extract ($1.50)
1 tsp. almond extract (.30)
½ tsp. cinnamon (.15)
¼ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg (.30)
    Pinch of salt (0)
½ stick of butter, melted at room temperature (.40)
 
C: The Mixings
¼ c. chocolate chips (.40)
¼ c. dried cranberries (.20)
 
D: The Extras
¾ c. sugar (for the caramel) (.50)
FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM (Optional)
 
Directions
Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees.
Cut the bread in small cubes and place inside a med-size bowl.
Mix well all the liquid ingredients listed above under B.
Add them to the bread and allow the bread to absorb the liquid custard for about 15 minutes.
 
Meantime, prepare the caramel by adding the sugar (listed under D) to a skillet in med-high. You are looking at the sugar melting into an amber color. Be alert, since the caramel could burn in a flash if you leave it alone. Smile. Once melted, add it to your baking pan; I am using a Bundt cake pan at this time. Once it becomes solid, oil spray the sides of the pan to prevent the pudding from sticking.
Add the batter to the baking mold, the chips and cranberries. (see my hack below)
Place the baking pan inside a larger pan with about 2 cups of water. (Ban Marie)
Bake at 350 for about 1 hour.
Serve with Ice Cream.
 
HACK:
To please everyone, this time I added chocolate chips to one half of the batter in the baking mold and cranberries to the other half, then stir to mix within the side.
 
I also had a bit left of the batter; therefore, I made a baby 6 ½ x 3” bread pudding without chocolate chips or cranberries for anyone who hates both, yeah right.