Place cubed hot cross buns in a greased 9 x 9-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine the milk, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, spices & salt. Pour over buns, making sure that the bread is completely covered by the milk mixture.
Cover & refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Set out the chilled bread pudding while you preheat the oven to 350 F.
Bake 40 – 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean. Remove from oven & serve with vanilla sauce.
Vanilla Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt butter & add flour. Stir until mixture has a nutty aroma.
Add salt, cream & sugar; stir until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat & stir in vanilla.
Spoon over servings of warm bread pudding.
Recipe Notes
You will notice I have only used 2 Tbsp sugar in the vanilla sauce to offset the sweetness of the pudding.