The search for bread pudding bliss.

I love me some good old fashioned bread pudding, but I have not yet found that perfect recipe. This past Christmas, we visited my fiance's aunt who is an outstanding throw-together cook. She made what I thought was this delicious cake that was dense, sweet and rich with Brandy. I later found out that it was actually bread pudding, surprisingly because its was molded well into perfect square cuts, just like cake. I had to have the recipe. She gave me Paula Deen's recipe for The Best Bread Pudding.
So I made it two nights ago. I left out the Brandy and substituted Rum because its all we had on hand. I also used walnuts instead of pecans. The result was some very good and very SWEET bread pudding. However, I am skeptical that it was the actual recipe that his aunt used. It was not at all like hers. My tummy was satisfied, nonetheless. I know this woman (whom I love dearly) pulled my leg in making me believe she actually followed a recipe for once! She makes some of the best things, but when you ask her how to make it, she usually replies with "Oh I just threw that mess together, you know, a little of this and a little of that." I hope she knows that she truly has a gift. In the mean time, I'll just hope she makes more of her secret bread pudding for next year.
I might still play with the Paula Deen recipe. If anyone knows old fashioned cooking, its Paula. I would love to incorporate some of the vanilla sauce from Ukrop's into it. I'm sure I can figure out how to make that from scratch. Mmmm.