ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI: BRED PUDDING RECIPE IS MOST POPULAR REQUEST

I receive a variety of requests for recipes, but the No. 1 request is for a "good but different" bread pudding. I do believe that you will find that this recipe is the one.

The most important element in a recipe is the cook's secret. The secret to this bread pudding is that it is cooked in a single thin layer. A crispy moist layer that is bathed in a butter sauce with a splash of lemon.

Bread pudding had humble beginnings as the poor man's favorite dessert, because every kitchen had bread of some sort, milk, eggs, sugar and a little butter. Creative cooks worked magic with these basic ingredients, adding on occasion a handful of nuts or fruit. These were simple ingredients dressed in their finest, being served in every farm house, and in time, on the table of kings.

A unique bread pudding is the "Mona Lisa" of homemade desserts. The fine art of tradition brought to perfection. When you serve bread pudding, you are serving a sweet memory.

Simply Sensational Bread Pudding

16 slices bread, torn into cubes and dried

2/3 cup fresh or frozen coconut

2/3 cup pecan pieces

2/3 cup raisins

2 sticks butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. Butter a 12-x-15-inch baking pan.

2. Place dried bread cubes in pan in a single layer; sprinkle coconut, pecans and raisins over bread cubes. Bread cubes must be in a "single layer" for bread pudding to be sensational!

3. Pour melted butter over bread mixture.

4. Mix sugar and cinnamon.

5. Beat eggs until frothy; add sugar mixture, milk and evaporated milk. Mix well. Pour over bread cube mixture.

6. Cover loosely with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes.

7. Serve with Lemon Butter Sauce.

Lemon Butter Sauce

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

3 cups water

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix powdered sugar and granulated sugar with cornstarch.

2. Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat; add sugar mixture.

3. Add water, lemon juice and vanilla, bring to a boil. Stir constantly until it thickens.

4. Pour half of warm sauce over pudding, and the other half is help yourself.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Angie Holtzhouser is author of Drop Dumplin's and Pan-Fried Memories ... Along the Mississippi. Her cookbook is available at local bookstores. In addition, it can be purchased through the mail at: Drop Dumplin's, P.O. Box 10, Lilbourn, Mo. 63862. The price is $19.95, including tax and shipping.