Bread Pudding with Cognac Sauce

(Chicago) – I still remember my Lola (“grandmother”) gathering the stale pan de sal from the previous days’ breakfast. She brought out the llaneras (oval metal baking pans) to be used as mold for her impromptu bread pudding. I never actually saw how she made it, not even the ingredients she used. I was too young to meddle in her affairs in the kitchen but I remember I was in the living room, basking in the fragrance coming out of the oven and awaiting a warm slice of bread pudding. This recipe is not a remake of my Lola’s recipe. There is no way I could unearth the exact mixture;…