Bread Pudding was at one time one of my favorite desserts. I was thinking about dessert the other day partly because it is not something we often have after a meal when there are no guests at our table. I had mentioned, in a post, the rare occasion of a simple dessert that we had while watching a game on TV. It started the memory churning about favorite desserts when Bread Pudding popped into my mind. I tried to remember when the last time I had this one time favorite.
It was not hard to remember once I got thinking. It was such a great Bread Pudding that with a little research I came away with the detail. It was 18 years ago at a party given by Tom and Karen Fox. Tom was a well know columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer and Karen was a TV News producer with NBC. Tom was from New Orleans and their Bread pudding is a New Orleans Creole Recipe. After their party we annoyed Karen for the recipe for months until she gave in and shared it with us.
It’s been 18 years since we got the recipe and about 10 years since we made it. I am not sure whether this was Tom’s or Karen’s recipe. Now that it is remembered you can bet that this Bread Pudding will be on our table again, soon! It is a great dessert. Tom is gone and Karen is retired somewhere near the water so without further preamble here is the Fox’s Eggnog Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Eggnog Bread Pudding (serves8)
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 quart milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 slices bread, cut into 4 equal parts
½ cup white raisins
½ cup canned pineapple chunks
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350’
Step 1. Break eggs into a bowl & add spices and sugar
Step 2. Beat well
Step 3. Heat milk and add to mixture
Step 4. Add vanilla, raisins and pineapple chunks
Step 5. Stack bread in a baking pan(cottage style)
Step 6. Pour egg mixture on top
Step 7. Bake for 1 hour
Step 8. When done, cool and cut into serving pieces and pour sauce over each portion
Whiskey Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 egg beaten
1 ounce bourbon whiskey
Cream sugar and butter and cook in a double boiler until hot and well dissolved
Add well beaten egg slowly while beating very fast to prevent curdling
Cool and add whiskey
Afterthought : The whiskey is not absolutely necessary. Try a dollop of whipped cream or the sauce without the whiskey if bourbon is not your style or in your cupboard. A few ounces of heavy cream added to cooled sauce, instead of whiskey, works with the sauce.
The bread is obviously important. Use a bread that has density. Wonder Bread won’t work well.
If the loaf you use is small in diameter, increase the number of slices
Pictured is a Bread Pudding from Southern Living which has a Vanilla Sauce that works well with the Fox Bread Pudding
