Originally, I had intended to post recipes that I had tried on this blog. Other than a very dubious peach recipe - These may be the first! I found this bread pudding recipe in a Bon Appetit's magazine. It is very good and rich. I've never met a bread pudding that I didn't like. The caramel sauce is yummy! Gaylene made it with some of her famous crepes and shared the recipe. She said it was one that Bernadette used to make. Reaaally good!
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Brioche Bread Pudding
Bon Appetit - February 1999
ingredients
1 1-pound brioche or egg bread loaf, crusts trimmed and reserved, bread cut into 1/2 inch cubes
8 large eggs
2 cups of whipping cream
2 cups of whole milk
2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup of hazelnut liqueur or amaretto *totally optional
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1/4-1/2 cup dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, apples, blueberries.
My favorite are Trader Joes orange flavored cranberries.
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preparation
Place bread cubes in 9x13 pan. Whisk eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar and flavorings in a large bowl to blend. Pour over bread cubes. Lightly mix in dried fruit. Let stand 30 minutes, occasionally pressing bread into custard mixture. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Arrange reserved bread crusts on baking sheet and bake until dry, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature. Transfer crust to food processor and grind until fine and crumbs form. Sprinkle 1 cup crust crumbs over top of pudding. Bake until pudding is set in center, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm.
*Note: This is just as good with regular leftover bread. You can skip the cutting of the crust thing with the regular bread unless you love a perfectly white bread pudding. I tried it with and without the amaretto and felt it didn't add a thing.
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Caramel Sauce
Combine the following in a heavy large pan:
1-1/2 cups of sugar
3/4 cups of buttermilk
1/2 cup of butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Boil 7 minutes stirring frequently. Remove and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
You're only regret will be that you didn't triple the recipe ! :0)
