Notes
I haven’t even tried this yet, but it looks amazing! I used turbinado sugar to coat the top because I thought it would give a darker, caramel-like color and a more rich-flavored crust.
This recipe calls for putting the mixture into 8 ramekins, and there was just no way I was going to have any part of that. As a result I knew I would have to bake it much longer, and even then greatly under-estimated how much longer it would take. I asked Ashley to take over for the last couple of steps.
She was afraid the top would burn with the extra bake time, so she put a piece of loose aluminum foil over the top and raised the temperature from the suggested 325°F to 350°F and baked it for another solid 30 minutes before taking it out to cool.
Enjoy!
Creole Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 10 large eggs
- 2 ¾ cups whole milk
- 2 ¾ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- 8 oz. day-old thin-crusted white bread (such as New Orleans-style French or Italian bread), cut into 1-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
- ¾ cup raisins
- 1 ¼ oz. (2 ½ Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
- Whisk the eggs in a large measuring cup or bowl with a spout until lightly beaten.
- Whisk in the milk, cream, ¾ cup of the sugar, ¾ tsp. of the cinnamon, the nutmeg, and salt until the sugar dissolves.
- Divide the bread and raisins evenly among twelve 6-oz. ramekins. Pour the custard over the top of each ramekin until almost full. Submerge the bread to help soak up the custard. Let sit for 10 minutes, then pour any remaining custard into the ramekins until almost full.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 and up to 12 hours.
- Let the puddings sit at room temperature for 1 ½ hours.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325°F. Mix the remaining ¼ cup sugar and ¾ tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Evenly dot the tops of the puddings with the butter and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar.
- Set the ramekins in a shallow roasting pan and add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides.
- Bake until browned on top and a knife inserted in the center comes out barely clean, about 40 minutes.
- Let the puddings cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature.
Bourbon Créme Anglaise
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 cups whole milk
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 6 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup bourbon
Directions
- Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape its seeds into a 2-quart saucepan, then add the pod and the milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring once or twice with a wooden spoon.
- Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is pale yellow.
- Whisk a little of the hot milk into the yolk mixture to warm it, and then slowly whisk in the rest of the milk. Pour the milk-yolk mixture back into the saucepan, turn the heat down to low, and cook, stirring and scraping into the corners of the pan, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and holds a trail when you run your finger across it (an instant-read thermometer should register from 170°F – 175°F), about 2 minutes.
- Immediately strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl.
- Fill a large bowl with a few inches of ice water, then set the bowl of crème anglaise into the ice bath to quickly chill it. Stir occasionally until cool, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bourbon.
- Serve right away or refrigerate for up to 1 week in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the sauce to prevent a skin from forming.