Since I started this blog in January, I’ve been dilligent (and border-line obsessive) about updating as often as possible, about 5 times or so a week. But then something happened a couple weeks ago. Cory bought an Xbox 360. Oops! Oh, and we’re also playing host to Cory’s brother for the next few days. Things have been quite busy around here. Fear not, dear readers, I still have a week’s worth of delicious goods to share! To make up for my long absence, I’ll treat you with a dessert. I think it’s been awhile since I posted something sweet here.
Tuesday was my favorite person’s birthday. You know, my best friend, the captor of my heart, the eater of my food, the man who makes me laugh until I cry on a daily basis. Cory doesn’t care much for cake and when I asked what he would like me to make him for his birthday he replied, “whatever you like.” I scoured the internet for recipes for a couple weeks and ultimately decided to make bread pudding with bourbon sauce from Elise over at Simply Recipes. The recipe is based on the famous dessert from the famous Bon Ton Cafe in New Orleans. I stayed true to the original recipe, but I added a little bit of nutmeg and reduced the amount of sugar by half. The bread pudding exceeded all expectations. The bourbon sauce was not nearly as strong as I expected it to be, even for a lightweight like me. Bread pudding is best eaten the day its made, but it’s still holding up pretty well after three days. Serve it with strong coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Bourbon Bread Pudding
(adapted from Simply Recipes)
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Pudding
1 loaf of day old French beard, cut into 1″ squares (6-7 cups)
1 quart milk (I used whole)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup raisins, soaked overnight in 1/4 cup bourbon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup Kentucky bourbon whiskey
The night before, soak 1 cup of raisins in 1/4 cup of bourbon.
The following day, preheat oven to 350F.
Add milk and bread to a very large bowl, press the pieces of bread with your hands until well mixed and most of the milk has been absorbed into the bread. In another bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. Gently stir into the large bowl with the bread mixture. Now gently fold the bourbon soaked raisins in the bowl.
Melt three tablespoons of butter into a 9×13 baking pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with the butter. Pour in the bread pudding mixture into the pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the bread begins to brown and pull away from the edge of the pan.
While the pudding is in the oven, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan, heat the butter over very low heat. Add the sugar and egg, whisking constantly until blended and thickened. Whisk in the bourbon sauce, remove from heat, and whisk again just before serving. Spoon the sauce over the bread pudding just before serving.
Serves 8-10
Try the recipe index for more ideas.
