Bourbon Bread Pudding

[cupcakechef]

@Trellum posted a delicious sounding recipe for Bailey's Chocolate Cheesecake a couple of days ago, which had me thinking about my favorite desserts with alcohol or liqueurs in them.

An old favorite here is bourbon bread pudding. Here's the recipe we use:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing
• 10 cups cubed brioche bread (the more buttery, the better!)
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, and put the cubed brioche in it. Sprinkle with the pecans.
2. Whisk together the half-and-half, milk, eggs, butter, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Pour the custard mixture over the bread in the baking dish, giving the bread a stir to make sure it's coated. Let the pudding sit for 1 hour, so the bread can fully absorb the milk.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once it is ready, put the dish in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until puffy and set. Remove, and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

We usually serve it up with either whipped cream or ice cream - a firm favorite in our house!

 

[Trellum]

I'm not a fan of bread pudding, but this one sounds great! I love how all those ingredients are so easy to find and I have most of them already at home, excepting for the half-and-half.

 

[Winterybella]

Well I have to say I must learn to make bread pudding on it's own before I attempt bourbon bread pudding. Well maybe not. Trellum, unlike you I had some bread pudding a girlfriend made and it was surprisingly great. I loved it so much I actually think I'd like to have a go at it.

 

[cupcakechef]

I'm not a fan of bread pudding, but this one sounds great! I love how all those ingredients are so easy to find and I have most of them already at home, excepting for the half-and-half.

I'll have to look up what can be substituted for half and half, here it's in every supermarket but I'm sure there's some way to use something else in its place!

And yes - I've had plenty of people say they weren't fans of bread pudding until they tried this one and then I think their minds were changed!

 

[Winterybella]

I'll have to look up what can be substituted for half and half, here it's in every supermarket but I'm sure there's some way to use something else in its place!

And yes - I've had plenty of people say they weren't fans of bread pudding until they tried this one and then I think their minds were changed!

Maybe they were a little tipsy and that is what changed their minds. It's something worth looking into even with the bourbon.

 

[Diane Lane]

Hmm, I think I have everything on hand but the bread and bourbon. I have always loved bread pudding, and have never had one I didn't enjoy. I haven't made one in a while, and since we had a recent cool snap, it's been on my mind. This sounds really rich, so I might save it for the holidays, because otherwise, I'd probably eat the whole thing!