Pudding Comfort

by Carole Kotkin

Bread pudding is a dramatic dessert that doesn’t require a lot of last-minute preparation. With a little soaking in a bath of cream and sugar stale bread bakes into a sweet, warm bowl of easy-to-love comfort food. The flavors have advanced beyond the basics of sugar and vanilla to include a melding of nuts, chocolate, dried or fresh fruits, and spirits such as bourbon or whiskey in the sauce. Bread puddings are best served hot or warm, but some are good cold. They are almost always doused with a sauce, some spiked with alcohol, and occasionally topped with whipped cream or ice cream. The neat thing about bread pudding is that it can be your own unique dish based on your favorite additions.

Some old-fashioned recipes specify removing the bread crusts; in others, they are left on. Some recipes use sliced bread, some use cubed, while those in New Orleans tear baguettes into ragged pieces. When the bread is first buttered and toasted before the pudding is assembled, the dish is called “bread and butter pudding.”

Bread pudding allows for many variations: You can use regular white bread, French bread, cinnamon-raisin bread, challah, or brioche, croissants or panettone (a sweet yeast bread with raisins).

It's best to use day-old bread. Allowing bread to soak in a custard batter for at least 30 minutes is the secret to a good bread pudding.

Instead of baking the bread pudding in a large pan, you can use individual ramekins and bake them for a shorter time.

To make bread stale, spread slices on a baking sheet and leave them out overnight. Or dry them in a 200 degree oven for about an hour.

Cooking the pudding in a water bath surrounds it with gentle heat and prevents the custard from breaking or curdling.

New Orleans White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Serves 6 to 8

This recipe is adapted from New Orleans native Executive Chef Damian Gilchrest, Executive Chef of the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Florida.

2 cups (12 ounces) white chocolate chips
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 14-oz can condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
4 eggs, beaten together
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup currants or raisins
1-1/2 to 2 loaves (7 cups) stale French bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup pecan halves
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.

Heat the cream in a saucepan over low heat. When it comes to the simmer, add the chocolate; stir frequently until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside. Whisk milk, condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, orange zest, and currants together. Transfer bread cubes into a large bowl and pour the milk mixture over the bread to completely cover it; let soak 30-60 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture and pecan halves. Transfer to prepared baking dish and place that pan in a larger pan. Place in the oven and pour hot water into the larger pan to come half-way up the sides of the smaller pan. Bake, covered with foil, for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cover with foil if the top gets brown too soon. Serve warm or cool with whiskey sauce. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

White Chocolate Sauce:

Yield: 1-3/4 cup

6 ounces good quality white chocolate
1-1/2 cups of whipping cream
Directions:
Place chocolate in a small bowl.
Bring cream to a boil in heavy small sauce pan.
Pour cream over chocolate, whisk until smooth.
1 cup white chocolate
¼ cup heavy cream

Gently melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream. Spoon over bread pudding

Whiskey Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1-1/2 teaspoons corn syrup
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup whiskey
1/4 cup water
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, lemon juice, whiskey, and water in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue cooking at medium heat for approximately 15 minutes or until sauce thickens and turns golden brown. Add of spoonful of mixture to beaten egg, then stir egg into butter-sugar mixture. Add vanilla. Serve warm with bread pudding. Enjoy!

Snickers Chocolate Bread Pudding Photo from Hash House A Go Go, Las Vegas