...I thought I would share my family's bread pudding recipe. I know, politics all the time, I'm slacking off, blah blah, but dude, dessert is important!
This is the dessert my father used to make on very VERY rare occasions, after which we would pester him for months to make it again.
Try it, and you will see why.
This is a two-part recipe: the pudding itself, and the sauce. Now, I learned this recipe from Dad when I was old enough to make the "adult" version of the sauce, but I have included a substitution for the kid-friendly version. Frankly, it's not nearly as good, but hey.
You will need:
For the pudding:
1 loaf of French or Italian bread cut into 1" cubes and let sit in a bowl overnight to go slightly stale. (This should come out to 6-7 cups of cubes.)
1 quart half-and-half
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp. vanilla extract - the real stuff, thanks.
1/4 tsp. each allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3 tbsp. unsalted butter.
(optional) if you like raisins - my lovely fellow chef does not - 1 cup of raisins soaked overnight in Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum.
For the adult sauce:
1 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced rum
1 egg
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
For the kid-friendly sauce substitute whole milk for the rum.
In a saucepan, melt the butter for the sauce on low heat, and whisk in the egg and sugar; once the sauce starts to thicken, whisk in the rum (or milk) and remove from heat; whisk until smooth and fairly creamy.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Soak the bread cubes in the half-and-half in a large bowl, pressing with your hands until all the liquid has been absorbed. In a second bowl, beat the sugar (both kinds,) eggs, vanilla, and spices together; once smooth, stir it gently into the bread mixture.
If using raisins, add them and stir them into the final mixture now.
Melt your butter, and pour it into a 9x13" cake pan, making sure the sides and bottom are well-coated, and then pour the bread mixture into the pan, making sure it's nice and evenly layered into the pan.
Bake 35-45 minutes at 350, until the edges of the pudding start to brown lightly and pull away from the sides of the pan a little.
Serve fresh and hot, with the sauce poured over the pudding to taste. (Depends, obviously, on how much sauce you like.)
This dessert drove us wild as kids, and still does; I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
