Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce
The Bread Pudding Wars
Recently Phil and I had a Bread Pudding Cook-off and neither of us will concede to losing. In reality, after doing what we each thought was the perfect bread pudding, we did agree that maybe a combination of certain elements from each of our recipes would create a better dish than either one was on its own. The inspiration for my recipe came from a restaurant in Plano, TX called Fishmongers. Wonderful bread pudding is served there. I became familiar with the dish when my older daughter worked there as a waitress for a while. Phil's recipe came from a friend who made his version of the pudding during one of their Alaskan trips. What ever the inspiration, we think this ended up being a great bread pudding. I do not apologize for the calorie count. Since this is a treat that we consume only occasionally, I don't really care.
I loaf of bread (I have used Italian, French, or sandwich sliced white bread)
12 Tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
1 Cup packed light brown sugar
4 Cups milk
5 large eggs
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 Cup raisins (or Craisins)
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/4 Cup bourbon (optional)
1 recipe Bourbon Sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bourbon Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 C butter. Whisk in 1 C sugar. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 C heavy cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 C bourbon. Gently warm sauce and serve over bread pudding.
Refrigerate left-overs. Individual servings can be reheated by spooning pudding into ramekins and heated in the microwave. Heat the sauce over a low temperature on the stove until warm. Ladle sauce over pudding and serve.
Recently Phil and I had a Bread Pudding Cook-off and neither of us will concede to losing. In reality, after doing what we each thought was the perfect bread pudding, we did agree that maybe a combination of certain elements from each of our recipes would create a better dish than either one was on its own. The inspiration for my recipe came from a restaurant in Plano, TX called Fishmongers. Wonderful bread pudding is served there. I became familiar with the dish when my older daughter worked there as a waitress for a while. Phil's recipe came from a friend who made his version of the pudding during one of their Alaskan trips. What ever the inspiration, we think this ended up being a great bread pudding. I do not apologize for the calorie count. Since this is a treat that we consume only occasionally, I don't really care.
I loaf of bread (I have used Italian, French, or sandwich sliced white bread)
12 Tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
1 Cup packed light brown sugar
4 Cups milk
5 large eggs
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 Cup raisins (or Craisins)
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/4 Cup bourbon (optional)
1 recipe Bourbon Sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Brush a 13" X 9" X 3" glass baking dish with 4 Tbsp of the melted butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the dish and set aside.
- Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and let stand 4-5 minutes or until the bread softens.
- Combine eggs, granulated sugar, remaining butter and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk together until well blended.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread-milk mixture and add the raisins. Gently stir to mix.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, cover and bake 50-60 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 15-20 minutes. Watch the top of the pudding to determine when it is finished. The surface should be golden brown but not completely dried out.
- Remove from the oven. You can pour the bourbon over the top of the pudding or omit it if serving for people not wanting alcohol.
Bourbon Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 C butter. Whisk in 1 C sugar. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 C heavy cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 C bourbon. Gently warm sauce and serve over bread pudding.
Refrigerate left-overs. Individual servings can be reheated by spooning pudding into ramekins and heated in the microwave. Heat the sauce over a low temperature on the stove until warm. Ladle sauce over pudding and serve.
Comments
_Mark Clermont. FL