INGREDIENTS
- 1 French baguette (18- to 20-inch), torn into 1-inch pieces (10 cups)
- 1 cup golden raisins
- ¾ cup bourbon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus extra for baking dish
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1, 4 oz. bar Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chocolate Bar, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Notes before you begin: This bread pudding is great on its own, but for a little more punch drizzle Bourbon Sauce over individual servings. A bakery-quality French baguette makes this dish even better.
INSTRUCTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange bread in single layer on baking sheet and bake until crisp and browned, about 12 minutes, turning pieces over halfway through drying time and rotating baking
sheet front to back. Let bread cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
Meanwhile, heat raisins with 1/2 cup bourbon in small saucepan over medium-high heat until bourbon begins to simmer, 2 to 3 minutes. Strain mixture, reserving bourbon and raisins separately.
Butter 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish. Whisk yolks, brown sugar, cream, milk, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, chocolate, nutmeg, and salt in large bowl. Whisk in remaining 1/4 cup bourbon plus bourbon used to plump raisins. Toss
in toasted bread until evenly coated. Let mixture sit until bread begins to absorb custard, about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. If majority of bread is still hard when squeezed, soak for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Pour half of bread mixture into prepared baking dish and sprinkle with half of raisins. Pour remaining bread mixture into dish and sprinkle with remaining raisins. Tuck the pieces of chocolate into the pudding, leaving a little of the chocolate peaking out. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix granulated sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl. Using fingers, cut 6 tablespoons butter into sugar mixture until size of small peas. Remove foil from pudding, sprinkle with butter mixture, and bake,
uncovered, until custard is just set, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pudding from oven and heat broiler.
Once broiler is heated, broil pudding until top forms golden crust, about 2 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Serve. (Leftover bread pudding should be refrigerated; reheat individual portions in microwave.)
Bourbon Sauce (optional)
Serves 8 to 10 (Makes about 1 cup)
The best bourbon bread pudding recipes feature a rich custard, tender bread, and sweet bourbon sauce. For a version to pair with our New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding recipe, we only needed about a tablespoon of bourbon. We also
enjoyed leftover sauce drizzled over ice cream (for adults only!!) If you would like to leave the liquor out of this recipe, it’s just fine on its own!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Bourbon Sauce is traditionally drizzled over portions of bread pudding in New Orleans. It's potent stuff, so just a tablespoon per serving is enough. Leftover sauce is good over ice cream—for adults only
INSTRUCTIONS
Whisk cornstarch and 2 tablespoons bourbon in small bowl until well combined. Heat cream and sugar in small saucepan
over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in salt, butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons bourbon. Drizzle warm sauce
over cut bread pudding. (Sauce can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 5 days; reheat on stovetop.)
*Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
