Creole Bread Pudding

Submitted by DailyInspiration

"Recipe is from the historic Brennan's Restaurant in Houston, Texas. The Restaurant first opened in 1967 as a sister restaurant to the world famous Commander's Palace in New Orleans. Definitely not low calorie - would be a great special occasion dessert. Note: I am not fond of whiskey in my sauce; therefore, I prefer to leave it out entirely and use vanilla extract instead."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 8-12

ingredients

• 3 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 14 bread, slices 1 inch thick
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 1⁄2 cups pecan pieces

• Whiskey Sauce

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 9 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1⁄4 cup whiskey

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. In a large bowl, blend the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk in the eggs, milk, cream and vanilla. Tear the bread slices into big, bite-sized pieces and place in a lightly buttered 9 x 13 pan. Pour the custard mixture over the bread and allow to soak until soft, about 1 hour. Stir the raisins into the pudding and top with the nuts. Bake uncovered 1 1/2 hours. Prepare the whiskey sauce and keep warm until needed. Scoop the bread pudding into individual bowls and top with the reserved whiskey sauce.
2. To prepare the whiskey sauce: Heat the cream and sugar in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil. Mix the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until smooth; slowly whisk into simmering cream. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Put the yolks into a stainless steel bowl; whisk. Temper the yolks by slowly whisking 1 cup hot, thickened cream mixture into yolks. Return the yolk mixture to hot cream mixture, whisking in slowly. After the mixture is whisked together, cook over medium-low heat until mixture reaches 140 degrees F. Remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer. Add the whiskey, adjusting to taste, and keep warm until ready to use. Sauce may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Reviews

[diner524]

What a wonderful flavored dessert!! I have to admit up front, I had never had bread pudding so really wanted to try one and when I saw the challenge for the breads for ZWT 9, I just had to tag this one!! Since it is only DH and I (he hasn't had bread pudding either, lol), I scaled this back to 1/2 of the recipe and that is still a lot just for the 2 of us. I made this as written, including the whiskey sauce, but I think next time I would make it a vanilla sauce as Nancy suggested, especially if you are serving this to kids, as the alcohol doesn't really cook off and the sauce is very strongly flavored with the whiskey. But must admit, by the end of the eating this dessert, I didn't notice the whiskey flavor so much, lol!!! Just loved the flavor of the bread mixture with the cinnamon/nutmeg tastes and then loved the pecans and crunchy topping, so good. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!!

 

[Marysdottir]

Excellent. A little different than my usual bread pudding which has no nutmeg and is a bit more custardy. I too reduced the sugar to 2.5 cups and might go down to 2.25 cups. Substituted chopped dried apricots for the raisins. Served it with a sauce made of butter, maple syrup, and cream. The pecans are wonderful scattered on top. Will make again.

 

[Yana S.]

This was terrific! I did make some small changes and have a suggestion for next time. 1. Didn't have time to make the sauce so just served it with some vanilla ice cream. 2. Used challah bread. About 1.5 loaves. 3. Added vanilla and rum flavoring, 1 teaspoon each 4. Forgot the raisins and nuts. Would've been good. Also maybe dried cherries. 5. Was VERY sweet. Will try taking sugar down to 2.5 c. 6. Accidentally used half and half v. heavy cream. Didn't miss it at all! For all that, this is totally easy and a keeper recipe!!!

 

[mobetta422]

This was my first try at Bread Pudding. It WOWED the crowd!! I’ve made it a few times now & My Family & Friends can’t stop requesting it!! AMAZING!! ??

 

[Annacia]

I do enjoy a good bread pudding and his one is very good indeed. I made just 4 servings and my single change was to use Malibu Light Spiced Rum. Lovely use of spice and nuts in this recipe and the yummy sauce could be used on so many things that it's a keeper all by it's self. Thanks very much Nan for sharing this. :D