If you ask anyone who knows me well, what my favorite dessert is, they will probably say either bread pudding or Tres Leches cake. The truth is that its bread pudding though Tres Leches cake is a close second - I guess they both have milk and flour in common which may in turn be because a lot of Indian desserts have milk and flour as a key ingredient. Bread pudding ultimately probably wins out because it also has my 3rd favorite ingredient -- alcohol, especially Bourbon which you will notice is a key ingredient in many of my cocktail recipes.
It may also have to do with my love for New Orleans -- which has many things I love all in one place -- French food, Jazz and Bourbon!
This is bread pudding I made one evening and as you can see before I could take a picture half of it was gone -- our kids Sophia and Sean, clearly loved it. You can see the sauce over to the side. I made this a 2nd time and it came out even better so I have updated the recipe and here is a picture below:
Ingredients
For the Pudding
3/4 loaf of bread -- I use sweet batard bread as it is soft enough on the inside to absorb the milk etc. but also has tougher outside so that the bread pudding doesn't become a mushy mess, but any left over bread, non-sliced rustic white bread is best (not sourdough)
4 cups of milk
1/2 cup Bourbon (for soaking the raisins, and for the sauce below)
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of golden raisins
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1.5 cups of sugar
3 large eggs (beaten well)
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
For the Sauce
1/2 cup butter (soft)
3 tablespoons of Bourbon (you can reuse the Bourbon from the above list after soaking the raisins
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg (beaten very well)
Recipe
At least an hour ahead of making the pudding, use the half cup of Bourbon to soak the raisins in a bowl so the raisins are completely covered. Leave it aside, the longer you allow for this, the plumper the raisins will be in the pudding. If you forgot to do this earlier, you can put it in the microwave for a minute and you will get them somewhat plump enough.
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
If the bread is a few days old that is best, if it is fresh, first slice the bread into thick (about 1-inch) slices and then lightly toast (about 10 mins) at 200 degrees. This removes some of the moisture and avoids a soggy bread pudding.
In a mixing bowl, gently break up the bread (into thick chunks), now pour the milk over it so it just about peeks out i.e. don't completely drown it -- you should mostly see bread, not milk.
In a seperate mixing bowl beat the 3 eggs, the cinnamon, and vanilla and whisk it well for about a minute. Add the soft butter and 1.5 cups of sugar to it and whisk it until it becomes a nice thick creamy sauce. Drain the raisins and set the Bourbon aside (you will use some of it for the sauce). Now pour the egg, butter and sugar/spice mixture over the bread and milk, adding the Bourbon soaked raisins and gently mix -- don't overdo the mixing, try and get the chunks of bread to remain in tact.
Soften 3 tablespoons of the butter in the microwave. Now grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with the butter. Now pour the bread mixture into the pan and put it in the oven. Let it bake for about 1 hour, it is done when the top pieces get a golden brown and the sides start to separate from the pan.
Take out the pan and set aside to cool down for about 20 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, in a saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup of butter at very low heat (this is important otherwise the sauce will curdle). Once the butter is melted, gently whisk in the egg and the sugar, patiently whisk it with brush so the texture becomes creamy, keep stirring constantly until it feels nice and creamy. Now add the 3 tablespoons of Bourbon to it and continue to stir and then turn the heat off when it looks nice and creamy. If you are ready to serve the bread pudding the sauce is now ready, if not you may have to reheat at low heat before serving.
That's it now serve the bread pudding with the sauce on the side, the sauce is very sweet and tastes of bourbon so folks can add a little or a lot to make the pudding sweeter.
Enjoy!!!