Warm brioche bread pudding is perfect weekend comfort food

Spring is hesitating to join us this weekend. Cloudy and drizzly here on the Rhode Island shoreline, not a good beach day. But there are some compensations - we can put off weeding the garden and spreading the mulch that’s waiting outside on the driveway.

And, instead, we’ll create some comfort inside – a warm bread pudding made from a tender brioche, and filled with raisins and apples that have been soaked in a simple syrup enhanced with rum. I’ve discovered an excellent, too-good-to-be-true-but-it’s-for-real site for bread pudding recipes – it’s from the California Raisin board – http://www.calraisins.org/recipes/category.cfm?id=53 . I’m in bread pudding heaven just looking at their recipes, which include such goodies as applesauce bread pudding, California raisin bread pudding with caramel sauce and bananas foster, and a lemon raisin bread soufflé, to name just a few.

The California Raisin folks describe this brioche treat as a “light and saucy rum-flavored pudding,” and they suggest serving this pudding with a raspberry sauce. I don’t have the exact size pan they call for in the recipe, so will use perhaps an 8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. So here we go off to the market to get some eggs, egg bread, and raspberries. Cloudy days aren’t so bad after all.

Warm Brioche Bread Pudding with California Raisins, Apples and a Berry Sauce

Rum Simple Syrup:
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup California raisins
1 cup apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

Custard:
1 quart milk
1 cup sugar
8 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 loaf brioche or light egg bread (14 oz. to 1-1/2 lbs.), sliced lengthwise 1/4-inch thick
Melted butter for brushing pan
1/4 cup pure crystal cane sugar, clear not colored

Berry Sauce:
1 pint raspberries
1/4 cup rum simple syrup

Sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Rum Simple Syrup: In small saucepan, bring rum, water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling 1 minute. Cool completely. Mix raisins and apple with 1/2 cup simple syrup. Set aside. Reserve 1/4 cup simple syrup for berry sauce.

Custard: Whisk all ingredients until mixture is fully combined.

To Assemble: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Brush 6x8x2-inch baking pan with melted butter. Line bottom of pan with one layer bread. Place 1/3 of raisins and apples on bread; pour 1/3 of custard over all. Repeat 2 more times and top with final layer of bread. There should be 4 layers of bread and 3 layers of raisin-apple and custard mixtures. Sprinkle top with crystal sugar.

Place baking pan inside a larger baking pan. Fill larger pan with hot water until it comes halfway up sides of smaller pan, or just until it seems like smaller pan is floating. Bring water to a boil on top of stove. Cover pudding with foil (if baking pan doesn’t have secure-fitted top) and place in oven; bake at 325 degrees F. about 40 minutes or until a shake of the pan produces a firm jiggle. Bake another 15 minutes, uncovered, until golden brown.

Berry Sauce: Meanwhile, puree raspberries and reserved syrup in food processor to a smooth, sauce consistency; refrigerate until ready to use.

To Serve: Cut pudding into 8 squares. Divide and ladle sauce onto each of 8 individual plates. Arrange a piece of pudding on top of sauce and top with whipped cream.
Serves 8.
Visit www.loveyourraisins.com/recipes/ for more raisin recipes.

Celebrate National Amaretto Day with Bread Pudding

There’s always room for one more celebration. And how many of you know that today, April 19, is National Amaretto Day?

In honor of this illustrious occasion, let’s raise our glasses to toast this almond-flavored liqueur, and also to create a fragrant Amaretto sauce to serve over bread pudding. Here are some easy sauce recipes that you can make ahead and keep in the fridge to heat up later and ladle over a favorite bread pudding. The flavor of Amaretto is especially good over bread puddings containing a little chocolate, or some cherries, golden raisins, or raspberries. It’s also delicate enough to enhance a rather plain bread pudding - nice for dessert on a warm spring evening.

We’ve also included a bread pudding that’s flavored with almond extract, in case you’d like to add to your growing collection of BP recipes.

AMARETTO SAUCE FOR BREAD PUDDING

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup Amaretto liqueur

In saucepan, on low heat, stir together butter, buttermilk, and sugar until sugar dissolves. Combine cornstarch with Amaretto; add to pan. Heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

AMARETTO BREAD PUDDING with SAUCE

(Pudding)
1 loaf French bread (10-ounce), about 5 cups
1 quart (4 cups) half & half
Butter to grease pan
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons almond extract
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup sliced almonds

(Amaretto Sauce)
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur

For pudding, cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Place in large bowl and cover with half & half; let stand 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter 9x13-inch baking pan. In separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and almond extract together. Stir into bread mixture. Fold in raisins and almonds. Spread evenly in baking pan. Bake about 50 minutes. Remove and cool.
For sauce, stir together butter and sugar until hot and butter melts. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs into butter/sugar mixture. Add liqueur.
Serve pudding at room temperature topped with sauce and whipped cream, if desired. Makes 12-15 servings.