Bread Pudding with Bourbon Cream Sauce

If your new year resolution was to lose weight, you might want to skip this one.  When the weather gets colder, we like to have heartier, warmer, satisfying foods and dessert is no exception!  One of our favorites is bread pudding, the perfect ending to a winter meal.  You can top it with ice cream or store bought caramel sauce too, but a little Vanilla Bourbon Cream Sauce will add an extra layer of warmth to the dish.

Bread Pudding

• 6 cups challah {if you can’t find challah, substitute brioche or in a pinch french bread}
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 c whole milk
• 2 c heavy cream
• 8 egg yolks
• 3/4 c sugar {I use sugar with vanilla beans stored in it}
• 1 T good quality vanilla or vanilla bean paste {I used my DIY Bourbon Vanilla}
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 t almond extract, optional

Cut the challah into 1” cubes, toast in the oven until crisp, but not dark.  To do this, I toasted at 300 degrees for 5 minutes, took it out of the oven and turned the cubes, turned the oven off and put the tray back in for another 5 minutes.

Set aside 2 cups of toasted bread.  Melt butter and toss the remaining 4 {heaping} cups of toasted bread cubes with it. 

While bread is toasting, whisk the milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, & nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the buttered bread cubes and pour into a baking dish.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Press the remaining 2 cups of toasted bread into the top of the soaked bread mixture.  You will want them to soak up as much of the liquid as possible, but still remain crisp. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes, the center should be jiggly, but not runny when pressed.  Allow to sit for 20 minutes to cool and serve with Bourbon Cream Sauce.

  

  

Vanilla Bourbon Cream Sauce slightly adapted from the Commander’s Kitchen recipe on Epicurious

• 1 1/2 c heavy cream
• 2 t cornstarch
• 2 T cold water
• 1/3 c sugar {I used sugar with vanilla beans stored in it}
• 1/4 c bourbon {I used my DIY Bourbon Vanilla here}

If you don’t use vanilla sugar and the Bourbon Vanilla, add:

• 1 vanilla bean, scraped –or- 2 T vanilla bean paste {a good quality pure vanilla extract can be substituted here, maybe it’s psychological, but I love seeing the flecks of vanilla in the sauce so use the bean or the paste if you can}

Enjoy!