A Fantastic New Orleans Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding made with brown butter and rum sauce. This a great dish to make at any time of the year, but it is exceptionally enjoyed at Mardi Gras time.

SERVINGS

Serves 10

INGREDIENTS

For The Pudding

• 4 ½ cups whole milk – or more as needed
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ tsps ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsps vanilla
• zest from one orange
• 12 eggs – beaten
• 1 tb butter – unsalted
• 4 cups very stale italian bread – broken into small cubes
• ¼ tsp nutmeg – or more to taste

For The Sauce

• 8 tbs butter – unsalted
• ½ cup corn syrup – light
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark rum
• 1 cup heavy cream
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup almonds – sliced

METHOD

1. To make the pudding, preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Whisk together milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest, nutmeg and eggs in a large bowl.
3. Mix in the very stale bread cubes and let them soak for about 30-40 minutes. It is difficult to determine how much milk will be absorbed so if the mixture looks dry, add more milk.
4. In the meantime, butter a 9X13-inch baking dish.
5. After the bread has soaked, slowly pour it into the prepared dish.
6. Bake until golden – approximately 40-45 minutes.
7. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over moderate heat until the sauce turns a light brown color with a nutty aroma – about 4-6 minutes.
8. Slowly add the corn syrup, sugar, rum, cream salt and vanilla.
9. Cook until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon – about 15 minutes.
10. Remove from the heat, add the almonds and stir them in to coat completely.
11. Serve by putting a large spoonful on a plate or into a small bowl. Pour the buttered rum sauce over the pudding. 

Buon Mangiata!