Thursday, March 25, 2010

Recipe Testers Wanted: Bread and Butter Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Is there any better fate for a loaf of day-old bread than being turned into this amazing Southern treat? Bread pudding is one of the ultimate comfort food desserts, and perfect when you need a sweet course for a large group. If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think. Enjoy!



























Bread and Butter Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Serves 10

For the bread pudding:
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
4 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon bourbon whiskey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of allspice
1 (1 pound) loaf day-old French bread, torn into 1-inch chunks
4 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup golden raisins

For the whiskey sauce:
1 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup bourbon whiskey, or to taste

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add the milk, cream, whiskey, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice. Whisk thoroughly until combined.

Scatter the bread in a 9 x 13 baking dish, and drizzle over the melted butter. Toss until coated. Top with the raisins. Cover with the custard mixture. Let still out for 30 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the custard. May also be made ahead and refrigerated until you're ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Bake about 40 minutes, or until the custard is set and the top is browned. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. May be served warm, room temperature, or cold.

To make the sauce: Mix the sugar, butter, and corn syrup in saucepan over low heat. Stir until the butter is melted, the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is heated through. Whisk in the whiskey. May be served over the bread pudding warm, or at room temperature.

31 comments:

Micky said...

Oh my, I NEED this!

Hania said...

hmm... I would love to be your first tester and provide you with some feedback.. BUT YOUR RECIPIES ARE JUST TOO GOOD!! And I've promised myself that I won't bake anything until the lent is over.. the list of recipies awaiting is getiing longer and longer..
Best FOODwishes,
Hania

Lhinelle said...

I would imagine this would also work well with other flavorful drinks, such as rum or amaretto. I know my dad makes a rum cake every Christmas, and it never lasts long...

Dan said...

Wow! Is this a southern thing? My English Mom used to make this when I was a kid, so I always assumed it was a British "war time" thing.

But I was just thinking about it yesterday, looking at all my day (or two) old bread.

Thanks Chef! You rock!

milkshake said...

Bread pudding is East-European home-made treat too. We knew it under the mysterious name zemlbaba.

Raven said...

sounds yum ..... I can't wait to try this ...except i'm going to try it with Sortilege ... whiskey with maple syrup .... YUM

easy recipe said...

Its looks amazing, I never sow something like this.

Don Madrid said...

One could jack this up with the addition of 150 grams of 70% dark chocolate chunks...just saying.

Anonymous said...

Ummmmm bread pudding.

One of my favorites.

I'll give it a try, but will have to add a few toasted pecans, and plump the raisins with a little booze first ('cuz I like boozy raisins).

Seth G said...

Video, please!

Micky said...

@ the person who said he/she likes boozy raisins.... Who doesn't? hahaha

JustGoodDagwoods said...

This is a good recipe. I added a little nutmeg and I usually soak my raisins in brandy then add some chopped dates about a 1/4 cup. Another thing ( did not try with this) my grandmother-in-law used to make raisin cookies. They were gone in flash. The key I think was she would soak the raisins and dates in brandy. I decided after she was gone to take the liquid she discarded from the soak and added brown sugar then bring to a simmer with some vanilla. Let it reduce to a syrup. Added that to the bread soak and a vanilla sauce. Outstanding. Give it a try.

Seth G said...

Turned out great, Chef!

I tasted the "egg nog" before adding to the bread, and found that a teaspoon or so of salt really made the flavor pop.

Great recipe.

rosemary said...

Any problems if I use brandy?

Chef John said...

brandy is fine!

Jack Parker said...

:::sigh::: I messed-up. I was in too much of a hurry and completely missed the (crucial) step of letting it sit for 30 minutes so the bread can soak up the custard. The bottom was mushy and the top was hard. Gads!

Chef John said...

oh well, you can mix it up, and bake at 300 until it cooks.

Unknown said...

This is an alltime favourite with my kids. I just mix up bread, butter, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, milk, cream and steam it for 30 mins on low. But Im gonna try this 'adult-pudding' with bourbon whisky cos i have this Irish whiskey lying and no one's drinking it...LOL

JadedOne said...

Hey Chef John! Please note that everything below is my honest opinion. I respect you as a chef and I don't mean any ill will.. so please don't take it that way :)

I tried your recipe on Friday/Saturday. I made a few mistakes but that was my own fault. Instead of whisking the eggs with the sugar before adding the liquids, I dumped everything in a bowl and mixed that together. It just took a little longer to combine everything. I also didn't have any allspice on hand so I used nutmeg instead.

The bread pudding itself turned out wonderful however the I didn't like how the sauce came out. I made the sauce as directed but it must've been the corn syrup that gave it a not so pleasant after taste. I actually ended up using one of my friend's recipes which I've included below.

Bourbon sauce
2 oz bourbon
1 cup half and half
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp butter

Put everything but the bourbon in a pan. Heat on low, stirring constantly until thickened. Add bourbon. Strain sauce to get rid of egg lumps.

Sorry for the long comment.. but I hope this helps you out :)

Chef John said...

Thanks! strange about the corn syrup aftertaste, i haven't experienced that.

Anonymous said...

Chef John,
I cant find the video of bread and butter pudding! Please help!

Chef John said...

there is no video. this was just a written recipe for the cookbook I wanted people to try

Louise said...

I love this picture...

Chris said...

I made this recipe today. The directions were very good and straight forward. My girlfriend loved it, though it was a little eggy for me. Awesome, simple recipe though. As always, great recipe Chef John

Anonymous said...

Tried this recipe with the bourbon sauce given by JadedOne.
I reduced the sugar used in the bread pudding because the sauce itself is very sweet already.
Thanks alot for this great recipe!!

Anonymous said...

This was an awesome desert for my New Years Eve dinner. Thank you for the recipe and the instructions. PERFECT!
-- Beth

RaeganMcAdams said...

I know I'm 3 years late, but I'm just finding this recipe. Made it for my husband's birthday dinner. Him and my in-laws loved it. My father-in-law even loved it more than the confit of pork belly.
Super delicious!

Anne Hastings said...

I too am 3 years late! I made a number of crazy changes (due to what I had to work with). We had a sizable snowstorm here yesterday and since Mr. Sun hasn't melted the white stuff off my car yet, I wasn't going to the store. I halved the recipe, didn't add the whiskey. I used 5 Tastykake Pecan Swirls (which no one would eat and I didn't want to throw out), and since it seemed like I needed more bread, 4 slices of store bought regular sandwich bread, 1/2 of a Kaiser roll and an egg knot roll all torn up (like I said, I used what I had!). I heated the milk (I don't know why) and added the (regular) raisins and dry ingredients (and a pinch of salt) to that, then let it cool slightly. Beat the eggs with the heavy cream, then added the milk mixture. I sprinkled chopped pecans all over the top and let it sit for 30 minutes in a glass casserole. Baked at 325 for 50 minutes. I didn't make the whiskey sauce, but might make a vanilla sauce. Right out of the oven... it is delicious! I love your videos and recipes - thanks for this bread pudding recipe!

Unknown said...

Almost 5 years late. Chef John has been making me look good for years and this recipe is no exception! Served it up to a crowd who swore they were too full to eat another bite. Yeah right. 6 people polished it off in no time and my wife was upset since this is one of her favorite desserts. So..I'm making more today just for her. I followed the recipe exactly, maybe a few more raisins. i can't say enough about your recipes and videos. Best thing since my mom gave me her Good House Keeping pictorial cookbook 35 years ago when I left the nest.

Ben said...

7 years later, still a good recipe. An easier way to serve french toast to a crowd. I used bourbon-soaked currants and diced apricots instead of raisins, which worked wonderfully. Next time I might try making the sauce with maple syrup instead of corn syrup for a maple-bourbon glaze, but I wanted to use up some corn syrup anyways, and it was good as is.

I found it helpful to squish the bread down into the custard with a spatula after letting it soak, since a lot of the chunks might be left high and dry. I also switched on the broiler for a few minutes at the end to brown the top without overcooking the custard.

The Invisible Pink Unicorn said...

Hey Chef John, should I tear it into chunks and then store it in the oven overnight or just buy it and wait until the next day to make the chunks?