Sunday, February 13, 2011

New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding

Made this for Jeff and Tara's CajunFest. I made it the day before and let it set in the refrigerator overnight. I didn't whip the cream until it was stiff; rather, I made it more like a sauce and added a little bourbon for flavor and a dash of salt. It was really good!

1 teaspoon unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup bourbon
2 cups half-and-half
8 slices day-old French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 recipe Spiced Cream, recipe follows
Sprigs fresh mint
Shaker confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 6-cup (9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 3/4-inch) loaf pan with butter. Whisk the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon together in a large mixing bowl until very smooth. Add the half-and-half and mix well. Add the bread and raisins, and let the mixture sit for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until the pudding is set in the center, about 55 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. To serve, cut the pudding into 1-inch thick slices. Lay each slice in the center of each serving plate. Spoon some of the Bourbon Sauce over the pudding. Top with the spiced cream. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and confectioners' sugar.


Spiced Cream:

1 quart heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
A good glug of bourbon
Dash of salt

Beat the cream with an electric mixer on high speed in a large mixing bowl for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and beat again until the mixture thickens and forms stiff peaks, another 1 to 2 minutes. (Note: like I said above, I only lightly whipped the cream.)

Recipe adapted from Emeril's Creole Christmas Cookbook

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