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Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce

Source of Recipe

From "The Best of New Orleans" by Ryan Boudreaux


Recipe Introduction

"Just about every restaurant in NOLA has their own version of bread pudding, and it's hard to distinguish which one is better than another. The basic ingredients are always the same, which might have something to do with the general consistency across all areas of the city and south Louisiana."

List of Ingredients

For the bread pudding:
â—¦ 3 cups heavy cream
â—¦ 2 cups granulated sugar
â—¦ 1 cup milk
â—¦ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
â—¦ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
â—¦ 8 large eggs
â—¦ 1 loaf stale French bread, cut into 2-inch pieces

For the rum sauce:
â—¦ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
â—¦ 2 cups packed light brown sugar
â—¦ ½ cup rum


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Grease a 9-inch square baking dish.

To make the bread pudding:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the cream, granulated sugar, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat and allow it to cool for several minutes. Then, slowly add a little bit of the hot cream mixture to the eggs, about ¼ cup at a time, whisking well until incorporated after each addition. Continue tempering the eggs until the cream mixture is added to the eggs.

Place the bread in the prepared baking dish and pour half of the egg mixture over it, allowing the bread to soak up some of the liquid for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, add the remaining egg mixture. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake for about another 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

To make the rum sauce:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking, until dissolved and smooth. Once the sauce is bubbling a bit, remove it from the heat and slowly whisk in the rum. Return the sauce to the heat and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring well, until smooth.

Scoop portions of the bread pudding into eight bowls and drizzle with the rum sauce. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings