Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2.5 quart baking dish
Place 1/2 of your torn muffins in the bottom of your pan.
Cream together cream cheese, maple syrup and lemon extract with a hand mixer. Place teaspoons of cheesecake filling on top of your torn muffins.
Top cheesecake with remaining torn muffins.
Combine custard ingredients and mix well. Pour over top. Top with a sprinkle of sugar and sliced almonds.
Cover with foil and refrigerate for 1 to 24 hours.
Bake at 350 for 30 minute covered with foil. Then remove foil and bake another 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.
Allow to rest 30 minutes prior to serving.
While your bread pudding is resting, make my Vanilla Pudding Sauce, if desired.
Vanilla Pudding Sauce
In a medium saucepan, whisk together half and half, egg yolk, arrowroot, sugar, and salt. Over medium heat*, cook until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly.
Boil for 1 minute while still whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Can be served warm or chilled.
Notes
*Let the sauce mixture heat up slowly. If you decide to turn up the heat to get this to boil faster, you will end up with a scrambled egg mixture!