Restaurant Style Bread Pudding Recipes

SOUTHERN BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Spread half of the bread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and remaining bread. Sprinkle with more cinnamon and nutmeg and drizzle with melted butter.
• Combine half-and-half, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl until well mixed and pour over bread. Press down on the bread with a fork to make sure it is saturated with the custard.
• Place the baking dish in a large pan of boiling water and bake in the preheated oven until the center is set, about 1 hour.

MOTHER'S RESTAURANT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, break bread into small pieces by hand.
• In a separate mixing bowl, whisk eggs and pour over broken bread.
• Add fruit cocktail to bread and mix by hand.
• In a 6-quart saucepot on medium high heat, combine milk, cream, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla extract and butter and bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat and pour over bread mixture a little at a time careful not to scramble the egg mixture.
• Cover and let bread soak up the egg mixture thoroughly, approximately one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• After an hour, check bread to make sure liquid is completely soaked into bread mixture.
• Mix by hand and break up any remaining hard bread pieces.
• Transfer bread pudding mixture into two 10 x 12 x 3 roasting pan 3/4 of the way to the top.
• Place in a 350 degree oven and bake until top is brown and center is cooked approximately 60 to 90 minutes.
• Be careful not to overcook.
• Serve hot and spoon bread pudding sauce over top (see recipe below).
• *SAUCE*In a 4-quart saucepot on medium heat, mix all ingredients together, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
• Simmer until butter clarifies and alcohol reduces, approximately 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat and spoon over bread pudding.
• Serve.

RESTAURANT STYLE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Add warmed milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Slowly stir in flour to form dough.
• Knead bread dough on lightly floured surface.
• Let rise until double.
• Punch down dough and form into a loaf.
• Let rise in loaf pan until double.
• Bake 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.
• Let bread cool.
• Cut bread into 1" cubes.
• Place cubes into a deep casserole dish.
• Toss in the raisins.
• In a separate bowl mix together custard ingredients. Pour over the bread and sprinkle top with coarse sugar crystals.
• Bake 375 degrees for 60 minutes.
• Serve warm.
• Note: You can double the bread recipe and have an extra loaf. I often make the bread the day before. You could use a dense store bought bread but you won't get the same results.

BETTER THAN RESTAURANT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Carmel Sauce:.
• Combine the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed sauce pan that holds at least 2 1/2 quarts.Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil.Let the mixture boil until it begins to smoke and thicken. It will rise up in the pan, become very foamy and start emitting puffs of smoke.Drop in the butter and stir until it dissolves.Stir in the cream.Return to a boil, then turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Cool to lukewarm.
• Fruit:.
• Use 1 cup of chopped dried apricots. Place in a heavy saucepan and cover with water and add sugar. Stir, bring to a boil and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the apricots are soft. (NOTE: You can use the dried fruit of choice but this is what we use. Also instead of the fresh apple, you can sub for half a cup of dehydrated apples, but not the crunchy type. You would want the soft chewy type, I believe they're called apple rings. I like using those better because they don't turn brown while you're chopping them. You would then add this type of apple to your apricot/sugar-water mixture.).
• Bread & Custard:.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Trim the crust off the french bread and cut into 1/2 inch slices and set aside. (truthfully, you don't have to trim the crust off, as long as you soak the break with the custard really well. It will be nice and soft and it does not effect the flavor at all.) Beat the eggs, flour, sugar for about 1 minute at medium speed. Add the cream and mix just enough to combine. Peel, quarter, core and grate the apple. Arrange the bread slices to cover the bottom of a 2 1/2 quart souffle dish. Do not overlap them, but at the same time try not to leave any spaces.Pour 1/3 of the custard over the bread making sure it is well soaked. Scatter the grated apple and apricot pieces over the bread, then drizzle caramel sauce over that.Repeat the bread, custard, apple, and apricot layering and end with the bread slices, custard over that and caramel on top. Bake 30 - 50 minutes until custard is set.
• *Note* Reserve any extra caramel sauce that you may have for later when you want to reheat your bread pudding -- if it makes it that far! If I have it i tend to garnish my bread pudding with chopped walnuts.

NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine raisins and brandy. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; cover and set aside. Brush a shallow 2-1/2-qt. baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle with sugar and set aside., In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and nutmeg. Stir in remaining butter and reserved raisin mixture. Gently stir in bread; let stand for 15 minutes or until bread is softened. , Transfer to prepared dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean., For sauce, in a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt; gradually add water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Serve with bread pudding.