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New Orleans Creole

New Orleans–Style Bread Pudding

Day-old French bread soaks up a cinnamon custard and bakes until puffed and golden. In New Orleans it's typically finished with a buttery whiskey or bourbon sauce.

Prep
20 min
Cook
55 min
Total
1 hr 15 min
Makes
10 servings
Bread pudding with raisins and warm bourbon sauce

My Sassy Southern Recipes

New Orleans–Style Bread Pudding

Prep 20 min · Cook 55 min · Total 1 hr 15 min · Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

10 servings
  • 1 loaf (1 lb)day-old French bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 cupswhole milk
  • 4large eggs
  • 1 ½ cupsgranulated sugar
  • 2 tspvanilla extract
  • 1 tspground cinnamon
  • ½ cupraisins (optional)
  • 4 tbspunsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cupunsalted butter (for sauce)
  • 1 cuppowdered sugar (for sauce)
  • 1egg yolk (for sauce)
  • 3 tbspbourbon or 1 tsp vanilla (for sauce)

Instructions

  1. 1

    Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

  2. 2

    Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Add bread and raisins, press down and soak 20 minutes.

  3. 3

    Pour melted butter into the dish, add the bread mixture and spread evenly.

  4. 4

    Bake 50–55 minutes until puffed, golden and the center reaches 160°F.

  5. 5

    For the sauce, melt butter and powdered sugar in a saucepan over low. Whisk the yolk with 2 tbsp of the warm mixture, then whisk it back in and cook, whisking, until it reaches 160°F. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon.

  6. 6

    Serve warm with sauce spooned over.

Cooking notes

  • Fresh bread gets mushy — stale bread is best.

Serving suggestions

Serve warm with sauce. Coffee on the side, naturally.

Storage

Refrigerate pudding and sauce separately up to 3 days.

Reheating

Reheat portions in the microwave or covered at 325°F until warm; rewarm sauce gently.

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