The recipe is based on a bread pudding recipe from the now-closed famed Bon Ton Cafe in New Orleans. My friend Becca gave us the recipe years ago and now it’s a family favorite, especially around the holidays. The sauce uses plenty of bourbon (Becca says Bon Ton’s sauce has even more bourbon in it), but feel free to cut down the amount. We have directions for making a kid-friendly, bourbon-free version of the bread pudding and the sauce in the recipe note.
What is Bread Pudding?
Bread pudding is simply cubed stale bread that is combined with a mixture of milk, sugar, and eggs that is baked. The result is something like the creamy middles from a stack of French toast. What elevates bread pudding to the realm of a truly decadent dessert is the sauce. You can serve the pudding with a caramel sauce, a vanilla sauce, or a hard sauce like the one in this recipe that features bourbon whisky.
How To Make Easy Bread Pudding
Start with stale bread that’s at least a day old. Stale bread holds its shape more easily when soaking up the custard mixture. Fresh bread tends to fall apart and turn to mush. If you don’t have stale bread, you can heat cubed fresh bread in the oven to dry it out a bit. Cut the bread into cubes and soak it in a mixture of milk, sugar, eggs, bourbon-infused raisins, and spices. Transfer everything to a casserole dish and bake for 35 to 45 minutes . You’ll know the bread pudding is done when the edges start to brown and pull away from the sides of the pan.
How To Make the Bread Pudding Sauce
While the bread pudding bakes, make the sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan and whisk in sugar and an egg over low heat. Cook the sauce just until it thickens, then remove it from heat and whisk in the bourbon. Cover the sauce and place it near the stove so that it stays warm until you’re ready to serve.
Make-Ahead Steps
You can assemble the bread pudding in the casserole dish up to a day before baking it. Cover it and refrigerate until ready to bake. Let it warm on the counter while your oven preheats and then bake as usual. Note that the longer you soak the bread pudding the softer and more custard-like the interior will be.
Tips for Making the Best Bread Pudding
If all you have is fresh bread, here’s what to do: Cube the bread and scatter the pieces on a baking sheet. Heat in the oven at 200°F for about 10 minutes until the bread cubes are dry to the touch but still pale-colored. Proceed with the recipe as usual.Use a rustic French or Italian loaf: Use a good quality rustic loaf bread instead of pre-sliced bread for this recipe. You can cut larger cubes and the bread will hold up better than typical sandwich bread.Soak the raisins in bourbon before you start anything with this recipe. Let them soak for one to two hours. You can even soak them a day or two ahead.When making the sauce, don’t be tempted to turn up the heat . This can cause the egg in the mixture to curdle.If your sauce does curdle, try blending it until smooth in a blender.
Ways To Adapt This Recipe
You can swap the raisins for any other dried fruit you like, such as cranberries or cherries, or leave them out altogether. You could also add in up to a cup of chopped nuts, like pecans, hazelnuts, or walnuts, or fold in some chocolate chips.
More Recipes Like Bread Pudding
Slow Cooker Banana Bread Pudding Peach Melba French Toast Casserole French Toast Casserole Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole Baked Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Get the raisins soaking in bourbon before you start anything with this recipe. You can even soak them a day or two ahead. The bread you use should be a little dry. If the bread you are using is fresh, after you cube it, spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes.
1 cup raisins 1 loaf French bread, at least a day old, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6-7 cups) 4 cups milk 3 large eggs 2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 3 tablespoons butter, melted
For the Bourbon Sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 1 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 cup bourbon whiskey (less or more to taste)
Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the liquid has set. The pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan. Whisk in bourbon to taste. Whisk again before serving. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth. Bread pudding is best served right away after it’s finished baking. However, leftovers can be kept for up to 5 days refrigerated and can be reheated in the microwave. To reheat, warm individual portions in 1-minute bursts in the microwave until warmed through. The sauce can be drizzled over top and reheated along with the individual slice. We do not recommend freezing bread pudding.
