Looking for a traditional-sounding dessert for Christmas? Try SDXB’s latest bread pudding. Don’t know where he got this, but he says it’s the best he’s ever had—and he’s a bread pudding aficionado.
New Orleans Bread Pudding with Two Sauces
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups milk
½ cup raisins
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans, dry roasted
5 cups very stale French or Italian bread cubes, with crusts on
Lemon Sauce [recipe follows]
Butterscotch Sauce [recipe follows]
In large bowl, beat eggs on high speed until extremely frothy and bubbles are the size of pinheads, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter and beat on high until well blended. Beat in the milk, then stir in the raisins and pecans.
Place the bread cubes in a greased loaf pan. Pour the egg mixture over them and toss until the bread is soaked.
Let sit until you see only a narrow bead of liquid around the pan’s edges, about 45 minutes, patting the bread down into the liquid occasionally. Place in a preheated 350 oven. Immediately lower the heat to 300 and bake 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 425 and bake until pudding is well browned and puffy, about 15-20 minutes more.
To serve, put 1 ½ Tbs warm lemon sauce in each dessert dish, then spoon in ½ cup hot bread pudding and top with ¼ cup butterscotch sauce.
Lemon Sauce
1 lemon, halved
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
Squeeze 2 Tbs juiced from the lemon halves and place juice in a 1-quart saucepan ; add the lemon halves, water and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and vanilla. Cook 1 minute over high heat, stirring constantly. Strain, squeezing the sauce from the lemon rinds. Makes about 3/4 cup. Serve warm.
Butterscotch Sauce [makes about 2 cups]
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 pound [2 sticks] unsalted butter
½ tsp imitation butterscotch flavoring (I’d substitute brandy or whiskey, myself!)
In a large skillet combine the pecan halves and corn syrup. Over high heat, stir constantly until mixture reaches a boil. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir until melted, then stir in the butterscotch flavoring (or booze!).