New Orleans Bread Pudding

According to nomenu.com (which is the leading food and restaurant site for New Orleans) there are more than 1,200 restaurants now open in the greater New Orleans area…not counting chain eateries.

Out of those 1,200 restaurants, I would bet that about 900 have their own version of bread pudding. There are as many bread pudding recipes as there are cooks down there!

Here is a pudding recipe with Bourbon sauce... and a little something extra.

Ingredients:

• One loaf of day old Italian bread, broken up or cut into cubes
• 4 cups milk           
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup white raisins (optional)
• 1 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon each nutmeg and cinnamon
• 3 whole eggs
• 2 sticks butter

Add milk to the bread.  Let the bread soak up the milk.  Push the ingredients together with a whisk or your hands.

Add the sugar and mix.  Add the raisins and mix.  Add all the other ingredients except the butter and eggs and mix.

Melt the butter, then add the eggs and melted butter and mix well.

Sprinkle more nutmeg and cinnamon over the top if you like.

Put in a cold oven and bake at 350 for an hour and 15 minutes.

Serves 8

Bourbon Sauce:

• 1 ounce bourbon
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted

Melt the sugars in the butter.  Add the bourbon and blend in.

Add the cloves and mix well.

Take a fork or a knife and jab the top of the bread pudding and pour the sauce over the entire pudding.  Give it a few minutes to soak in.

Serve to your guests..and don’t forget to top with whipped cream!

Lagniappe (that’s Cajun for “a little somethin’ extra”)

You can make a quick and easy sauce for bread pudding by just melting butter, powdered (confectioner’s) sugar and any flavoring you like...such as vanilla, bourbon, rum, etc… Whisk together and pour over the bread pudding.