Yes indeed, I do love bread pudding a lot! And now that I discovered bourbon sauce, I like it even more!
I made this bread pudding for breakfast the other day, and I was looking for something to make it even better, and stumbled upon this amazing sauce, so simple and fast to make and so delicious. I would put this on everything!
To make the bread pudding :
Ingredients for 4 servings
-2 cups brioche bread, cut in 1 inch cubes.
Cut the bread and let it stand on the counter for few hours, or over night, and if you have stale bread is even better. You can actually use any kind of bread, if it is not with olives, rosemary or any savory ingredient. Any regular bread will do. Or croissants, and various pastries that are getting old, you can use them in this recipe. Isn't this great? No more waist, and more yumminess in your life!
-4 whole eggs, beaten
-2/3 cups granulated sugar
-2 cups of milk
-1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons) softened, and some more for greasing the pan
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (skip it if you want)
-1/2 cup slivered almonds (or any other nuts you like)
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C)
In a big bowl beat together eggs and sugar, add the milk, vanilla and nutmeg, and mix well. Drop in the cubed bread, mix gently, and let sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. I actually prep everything the night before, and let it in the fridge over night. Pour everything in the pan you will bake it in. i like to use individual ramekins, but a deep dish or other deep pan should work just as fine. Mix the butter and nuts and sprinkle on top, then bake the pudding for 40-45 minutes (30-35 if you use ramekins).
While the pudding cools slightly, make the sauce
Ingredients
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 stick butter (8 tablespoons) melted
-1 egg , beaten
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-3 tablespoons bourbon or brandy , even rum (I don't have bourbon in the house and used some champagne instead, and it works great too)
Method
In a sauce pan beat the egg and sugar, add the melted butter and vanilla and mix well. Put on medium heat and whisking continuously let it cook for 5-7 minutes, until the sugar melts, and it starts to thicken just a little. To be more precise use a thermometer, and wait for the sauce to get to 150 degrees F. Add the brandy and mix well, keeping on heat for 2-3 minutes, for the alcohol to evaporate a little. If you want a stronger alcohol taste you can skip this step.
Pour the hot sauce over the bread pudding, and serve. I served it with a dollop of whipped cream on top, fresh mint and a cherry.
Recipe adapted from Paula Deen.
Shopping at a World Market yesterday I found some Italian cookies I used to love as a child : Savoiardi. I believe they call this type of cookie "lady fingers" here in United States. This particular ones are very dry, crisp, porous and crumbly, with a sugary sprinkle on top. They are used usually for Tiramisu, but work great for any cake. I bought them thinking to make the crust for my next cheesecake, as we are not very crazy for the graham cracker crust, and wanted to find a replacement. As a kid I used to love eating Savoiardi with my hot chocolate, dipping them in.
Thinking about what to fix for breakfast next day, bread pudding came to mind, and this spongy cookies would be perfect to take this yummy treat up a notch. Said and done. I think bread pudding is a wonderful breakfast, but you have to have the time. If you are in a hurry this won't be a good breakfast idea. You could try it as a dinner desert though!
Here is how to make this:
Ingredients (for 2 rather large portions, or 4 smaller):
12 Savoiardi cookies (you can use any other lady finger cookies, or even left over Panettone, or why not make the classic recipe with stale bread)
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar (you can put less if you don't want them too sweet, as the cookies are also sweet and have sugar sprinkles on top as well)
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, or even better, half vanilla bean seeds
1 pinch of grated nutmeg
Method:
Break the cookies in half, and arrange them in layers in the ramekins. Set aside.
In a bowl, or in a blender as I did, mix together sugar and eggs, then add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well, not too long though.
Pour this mixture over the cookies in the ramekins, to fill them up, but not all the way to the top, as they will rise at least one inch while baking. Gently press the cookies down to make sure they are sunk in the custard. Let them soak in for at least 10-15 minutes.
I prepared this the night before, so I placed the ramekins in the fridge until the next morning. But you can bake them right away as well. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C), placing them in a deep pan filled with hot water halfway up the ramekins, for 50 minutes to one hour, until they get golden brown and fluffy and the custard sets. Just keep an eye on them after 45 minutes pass, not to get them burned, as every oven is different.
If your morning routine takes you about one hour, this is a great breakfast for you. What I do is, wake up, go straight to the kitchen, take the ramekins out of the fridge, place them in a deep pan, fill the pan halfway up with water, preferably hot, but cold should work too... after all, you just woke up, you need things simple and easy. Place the pan in the oven, turn the oven on to 350 degrees, and set the timer for one hour. Never place the cold out of the fridge ramekins in a preheated oven though, you risk them cracking. But if you place them in the cold oven and turn it on afterwards, it is fine. It will take them a little longer in the oven to be done if you are baking them straight out the fridge, then it would if you bake them right away.
Go get your shower, put on make up, get dressed... it takes me about one hour... long, I know... Between your mascara and blush, go check on the pudding.
And when you are ready, your kitchen will be filled with an amazing smell, and you have a yummy hot breakfast waiting for you.
Careful though, as it will be very hot, let them cool a little before digging in.
I believe this would be great with a nice sauce on top (extra calories always somehow make things tastier :), but I skipped the sauce this time), such as this one from Paula Deen:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) melted
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brandy, or liqueur, or 1/2 teaspoon rum essence
Mix everything but the brandy together in a sauce pan over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves, and you get a creamy consistency. Add the brandy, mix well, and pour over pudding.
You can also top the warm pudding with ice cream, or whipped cream, and even fresh berries.
Yum
