Sweet Bites: New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

The Occasion: Mardi Gras aka Fat Tuesday is coming up next week, ushering in the 40-day period of abstinence and atonement known as Lent. Many people give up sweets during this period, so make sure to get one more really satisfying dessert in there before the cut-off. This bread pudding, which Ilise tweaked from an Emeril Lagasse recipe, might just be the one. 
​
We served this as part of the dessert buffet at our annual holiday open house in December, which had a Mardi Gras/masquerade theme. The dish won hearts and minds right away and may end up on the Request List for future parties.

Why This Works: Comfort food, plain and simple. We made it work for a buffet/open house scenario using an electric warming tray and a fondue pot (over Sterno or a candle) for the whiskey sauce. 

The Playlist: I debated on this one. Go with a bread themed song? Pudding? (In answer of the question ‘But what would that even be?’, the almighty Google machine points me towards the supremely weird and wonderful Pudding Time by experimental metal band Primus. So there you go.)

​Probably best for all of us that we’re going with a lively New Orleans mix from Spotify. Please enjoy.  

The Verdict: This was a real crowd-pleaser, especially with a healthy dollop of hard sauce ladled on top. By itself the casserole is flavorful with warm spices and bourbon-soaked raisins and the texture is that wonderful mix of crispy on top and melty-luscious down below. The whiskey sauce packs a punch when sampled on its own, but when paired with the bread pudding it’s a culinary love match. Go on and get you some!  Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

Printable Recipe- New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
File Size:	569 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Recipe source: Adapted from Emeril Lagasse via Food Network

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 to 14 cups 1-inch cubes day-old white bread, such as French or Italian
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups whole milk
• 6 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup bourbon or other whiskey
• Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
• 1 recipe Whiskey Sauce, recipe follows

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put bourbon in small sauce pan and warm up over low heat, add in raisins and keep heat on simmer for another 5 minutes.  Take pan off the heat and let raisins soak up the bourbon.
• Place the bread in a large bowl. Grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish with the remaining tablespoon of butter and set aside.
• Combine the heavy cream, milk, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and raisins with any remaining bourbon in a large bowl. Whisk to mix. Pour the cream mixture over the bread, and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Transfer the bread mixture to the casserole dish and bake until the center of the bread pudding is set, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Garnish the bread pudding with confectioners' sugar (if desired) and serve warm with warm Whiskey Sauce.

Whiskey Sauce:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup bourbon or other whiskey
• Pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• In a 1-quart saucepan set over medium heat, combine the cream, milk, and sugar.
• Place the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the bourbon in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend and make a slurry.
• Pour the slurry into the cream mixture and bring to a boil. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and stir in the butter and the remaining 1/4 cup of bourbon. Serve warm.

Click the photo for a closer look at the pretty pink vintage dessert plates at Entertaining Vintage