If You Know Me…

you know that I love bread pudding, which means you won’t be surprised to learn that I turned my brioche into an amazing bread pudding. 

Pretty much since the moment I chose brioche as March’s baking challenge I knew I’d be turning that baby into bread pudding.  Banana brioche bread pudding to be exact and it turned out even better than I had hoped.  The recipe I used comes from The Craft of Baking, which I purchased on Megan’s recommendation.  (Thanks, Megan! So far so good!)  I adapted the recipe quite a bit  and to really push this breading pudding over the edge I  topped it with Emeril’s whiskey sauce, which I also adapted. 

Banana Brioche Bread Pudding, adapted from The Craft of Baking’s Berry Brioche Bread Pudding

Ingredients

1. Unsalted butter, for greasing the dish (I used Pam)
2. 2 TB turbinado sugar
3. 1 cup heavy cream
4. 1 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
5. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
6. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
7. 2 large eggs
8. 2 large egg yolks
9. 3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10. 2 bananas, cut into 1/4 in slices (I just mushed mine with a fork leaving them a little chunky)
11. 6 cups of brioche, cut into 1 1/2-inch dice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.  Butter an 8 inch square baking dish and coat the dish with the 1 TB of turbinado sugar.
2. In a large bowl place the diced brioche.
3. In a heat proof bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, yokes, and salt.  (I added the vanilla here.)
4. Combine the cream, milk, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a large saucepan.  Heat over medium, stirring to dissolve the sugar, just to a bare simmer.  Remove the pan from the heat and pour one third of the cream mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk to combine well.  Return egg mixture to the remaining cream mixture and whisk to combine.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve placed over the bowl of brioche. Gently stir to coat all of the brioche with the custard.  Fold in banana slices.  (I stirred vigorously as I wanted some of the bread to breakdown.)
5. (The recipe doesn’t say but let your bread soak for a bit to absorb all the yummy custard.  I check it after about 30 minutes to see how much custard the bread has sucked up.  You don’t need to do this step but I don’t like chunks of dried tasteless bread in my pudding.)
6. Pour bread/banana/custard mixture into your prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1TB of turbinado sugar and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake, rotating the dish (I didn’t do this) and removing the foil halfway through, until the top is crisp and toasted and the custard is set, about 45 minutes.  Serve warm from the oven. 

Whiskey Sauce, adapted from Emeril’s Whiskey Sauce

1 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 TB cornstarch

1/4 cup bourbon or other whiskey

Pinch salt

1 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a 1-quart saucepan set over medium heat, combine the cream, milk, and sugar. Place the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the bourbon in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend and make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the cream mixture and bring to a boil. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and stir in the butter. Serve warm.  (I think the bourbon/whisky could have been reduced but that’s just me.  I don’t drink and thought it was a little strong.  Rum would probably also work.)

***The lovely photos you see in this post were taken by my children’s sitter, the wonderful Miss Karolyn.  Thanks, Karolyn!