If you have all the ingredients on hand and all together, making bread pudding is really a snap. I’ve not made it for several years. Usually I make a recipe that’s loaded with a bourbon sauce on top, but this time most of it was going to my friend Norma who is really struggling to eat anything at all these days due to chemo and radiation. And a boozy sauce didn’t appeal to her at all. So I easily adapted a recipe to make a vanilla sauce. It, too, was very easy. The recipes I adapted came from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I seem to be reaching for that cookbook more often these days.
This particular recipe had an interesting technique you won’t see in other recipes. It had a bread cube topping that is really tasty. Some of the bread cubes are reserved, they’re tossed with some sugar and cinnamon, then drizzled with some melted butter. Then those cubes are gently pressed into the top of the pudding before baking. In the picture below you can see the darker colored cubes (this photo was taken before baking) kind of sitting on top. When you eat it, those little cubes on top are a bit crunchy and toothsome with the cinnamon and sugar. They never sink into the bread pudding, so give the pudding some different texture. I liked that about it. Usually you use white bread for a bread pudding, but my DH, who did the shopping for me, bought white whole wheat. Actually it made no difference, so I’d say it worked just fine. Most people wouldn’t even know it wasn’t white bread.
The vanilla sauce I used was an adaptation of a vanilla pudding recipe in the same book. It called for 3 egg yolks. I used 2. And because I didn’t have any half and half, I used a combination of fat-free half and half, a bit of whole milk (left over from the bread pudding custard mixture) and some 2% milk we usually have on hand in the refrigerator. I reduced the sugar amount just a little because the bread pudding is sweet enough. The recipe indicated bread pudding should be eaten the day it’s made (the crispy topping certainly won’t be crispy after it’s been refrigerated overnight). But the taste is still just fine a day later.
In case you’re interested, here’s the short/quick recipe for the whiskey sauce: 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup bourbon. Cream butter and sugar over medium heat until all the butter is absorbed. Remove from heat and blend in egg yolk. Pour in bourbon gradually, stirring constantly. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Serve warm over warm bread pudding. [You might want to double that recipe to serve 12.]
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Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Recipe: Adapted from recipes in America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Servings: 10
BREAD PUDDING:
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons bourbon — optional
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 ounces sandwich bread — cubed
TOPPING:
2 ounces sandwich bread — cubed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter — melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
VANILLA SAUCE:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups half and half
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat to 325. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
2. BREAD PUDDING: In a large bowl whisk the eggs, yolk and sugar. Whisk in the milk, cream, bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Stir in the bread cubes and mix until all cubes are covered with the milk mixture (they will float to the top). Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temp for 20 minutes (to allow the bread to soak up the milk.
3. TOPPING: In a small bowl combine the bread cubes, sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle the melted butter over them (cover as many of the cubes as possible) and toss the mixture. Gently pour these onto the top of the bread pudding and move them so they are mostly evenly arranged. Gently press down on these new cubes so they’re partially submerged in the milk.
4. Bake until the pudding is deep golden brown, puffs around the edges and jiggles slightly at the center, 40-50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack until set, and serve while warm, if possible.
5. SAUCE: Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in the half and half and the egg yolks.
6. Bring the mixture just to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking gently but constantly, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and cook constantly until the mixture is thicker and lightly coats the back of a teaspoon.
7. Strain the pudding through a fine-mesh sieve, into a bowl. Stir in the butter and vanilla and stir until the butter is melted. Press plastic wrap directly onto the top of the sauce if you’re not going to eat it immediately. Can be reheated very gently if you’d like to serve the sauce warm.
Per Serving (I think think this would serve 12 easily, so calories would be less): 661 Calories; 41g Fat (57.0% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 58g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 278mg Cholesterol; 398mg Sodium.
A year ago: Zucchini Ribbons (a veggie side dish)
Two years ago: White Wine Vinaigrette
Kathleen Heckathorn
said on June 23rd, 2009:
That recipe looks SO scrumptious! Bread pudding is one of my favorite things in the whole world.
Kathleen – you’ll like this one, then. My DH was very sad that it was all gone . . . carolyn t
Marie
said on June 27th, 2009:
Todd just loves bread pudding Carolyn! Yours looks very, very good! Definitely Todd worthy!