Bread pudding dressed up for Saturday night

The bread pudding is amazing.  So is the sauce on top.

                        

So the other night I had some friends over for a dessert and games night.  I shot down all offers to bring dessert over.  This was an opportunity to try making something new and get back into the swing of Tort(e).

So I asked my friends what they would like for dessert.  I got two suggestions: bread pudding or custard.  I am not a huge fan of custard, although my husband is.  But he likes it all watery and runny and I don't think that is any way for a proper custard to be.  While I do intend on trying my hand at flan (or egg custard as my mom always called it when I was a kid), that evening was not the time for it.  I had never really thought of making bread pudding.  To me, it seemed like a boring dessert.  Bread, soaked in eggs and sugar and baked.  Its basically French toast, but for dessert.

Boy was I wrong.

So I went online and started perusing.  I came across a recipe that seemed pretty easy and tasty.  Plus the batch it made was smaller than the other recipes I saw.  This one made enough for eight.  We were having three couples over... so that plus me and hubby made eight.  Perfect!

This bread pudding is not the boring old bread pudding your grandma used to make.  While it still is slightly rustic, its dressed up a little bit with some white chocolate and a (deceptively) simple berry sauce.  Add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and you have an amazing dessert that looks a lot more difficult than it is.

It looks kind of boring without the sauce, but even without, its pretty amazing.  It tastes like home, but fancier.  Like home on a holiday.  For those who celebrate, this would be a great dessert on Christmas.  Its warm, its comforting, and its dressed up for a party.  What are you waiting for?  Let's get baking!

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 3 large egg yolks (you can freeze the whites to make macaroons at a later date)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 5 ounces white chocolate, chopped (I used chips, a block chopped works better)
• 3 cups french bread, cubed and crusts cut off

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl mix together the egg, egg yolks (don't forget to freeze those whites for later use!), and vanilla.  Set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan mix together the milk, butter and sugar.  Cook on medium high heat, being careful to stir and not scorch the milk.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is almost boiling.  It should form small bubbles on the surface, but not be actually boiling yet.  Turn the head down low and add the white chocolate chips.  Stir until they are well melted. If you decide to use white chocolate chips like I did (they are way cheaper than a block of white chocolate and easier to find!), be SURE you have them melted all the way by stirring.  Otherwise they will form little waxy pellets at the bottom of the pan.  Not a huge problem, but something to be aware of.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: Whisking constantly, very slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs.  Do not stop whisking.  Do not dump the mixture in.  It is very very very important to do this slowly, otherwise the eggs will cook and you will have scrambled eggs floating in milk on your hands.  Not tasty. Once the mixture is fully mixed together, set it aside.

Arrange the bread cubes in a 9x5 loaf pan.  If you want a more elegant look, try to arrange the cubes as evenly as possible in the pan.  I kind of wanted a slightly rustic look, so I just threw them in the pan, but tried to keep them tightly packed in there.  Then pour the liquid mixture over the bread cubes, being sure to fully soak all of the bread.  Press down on the bread cubes with a wooden spoon to be sure that they are all fully saturated with the mixture.

Put the loaf pan in a larger casserole dish (I used a 10 x 13 casserole dish) and fill the casserole dish with water about half way up the side of the loaf pan.  Creating this water bath will help be sure the bread pudding cooks all the way through and stays moist, so do not skip this!  Put foil over the top of the loaf pan (this will keep the bread pudding from browning too much) and put in the oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the custard is set.  A knife inserted in the middle will come out clean (or nearly clean) when the custard is fully cooked.

Source: adapted from Baking Bites

Berry Sauce

The sauce for the bread pudding is amazingly easy.  I couldn't believe how simple it was.  And you can tailor it to the flavors you like best.  I used frozen mixed berries and blackberry jam, but you can use any kind of frozen berries and jam you like for a different flavor.  This sauce is great on the bread pudding as well as on waffles, pancakes and creme brulee.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen berries (any kind you like!)
• 2 tablespoons berry jam (again, any kind you like!)
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Mix berries, jam and sugar in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for one minute.  Stir and microwave another 60-90 seconds or until syrup is thick and bubbly.  Serve over bread pudding.

Source: Baking Bites