Grocery List or things you need to be sure you have on hand: French Bread, Brandy, eggs, milk, butter or margarine, sugar, vanilla extract, raisins, nutmeg.
Approximate Preparation Time: 1 to 2 hrs. prep + 1 hr. 25 min. cooking time
Ease of Preparation: Danged hard
List of Ingredients:
Brandy Sauce:
1 stick margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup Brandy
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
Bread Pudding
1--16 oz. loaf day-old French bread
3 ¾ cups milk
¼ cup Brandy
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
Directions:
Brandy Sauce:
(May Prepare and refrigerate the day before)
1. Set ingredients on countertop and leave them for an hour to allow them to come to room temperature.
2. Melt margarine or butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Watch closely. Do not scorch.
2. Add sugar, Brandy, and nutmeg. Stir constantly as mixture comes to a boil. Continue to stir and cook one minute. Mixture should be frothy. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in another bowl whisk the egg until very light and foamy. Pour 1 tablespoon of the sugar mixture into the egg mixture and whisk thoroughly--do again twice more.
4. Quickly pour and then vigorously stir the egg mixture into the sugar mixture. Continue to whisk until it comes to room temperature. Refrigerate until needed.
Bread Pudding:
1. Tenderly pull apart bread (or cut with a saw-toothed knife) into 1-inch cubes.
2. Stir milk and Brandy together in a small bowl. Place bread cubes in large bowl and cover with milk and Brandy mixture. Let sit one hour. Do not stir. Do not refrigerate. This is also a good time to set the rest of the ingredients on the countertop to allow them to come to room temperature as well. This includes the sauce if it was prepared earlier.
3. After about 45 minutes, generously grease a 9” x 13” glass baking pan with 2 tablespoons margarine or butter and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
4. Beat eggs in a medium bowl until the color of lemons. Then continue to beat adding sugar and vanilla extract until mixture is light, smooth, and sugar is completely dissolved, stopping to scrape bowl as needed.
5. Gently fold egg mixture into bread mixture until well blended. Pour blended mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle raisins evenly over top. Then quickly poke raisins deep into mixture.
6. Bake on middle rack about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It should be well browned, if not, let go another 5 minutes until pudding is set and sides look nicely browned. Cool to room temperature.
Up to an hour before serving:
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Cut cooled pudding into serving size squares. Using a spatula, turn squares over, topsy-turvy. Drizzle with sauce. Use all of it.
3. Place in broiler only a minute or two until slightly toasted and very fragrant.
Hints, Tips and Variations: Tip:A heavy saucepan for the sauce is essential, and only a "glass" baking pan will do for the pudding.
Variations: The quarter cup Brandy and 3-3/4 cups milk can be altered to suit your mood. I've used up to a half cup of Brandy and reduced the milk accordingly. You could try other liquors, too. I tried Whiskey, but prefer the Brandy.
Good Cooks Tell All: There are easier bread puddings and sauces. I've tried several, but this is my favorite. So much time and work to accomplish, but just the smell when it comes out of the broiler makes it all worth it.
Submitted by: Linda Morris
The Source of This Recipe: Mainly I came to use the recipe from "The Silver Palate Cookbook" for the pudding and I adapted the Brandy sauce recipe mainly from "The Joy of Cooking."
Skinny It Down: I made this with low-fat milk and instead of sauce, I sprinkled the top with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar the last 15 minutes of baking time. My mom gave me the idea. It was one her own mother-who would be over 110 now-used to serve for her family. Mom had 12 brothers and sisters, and my grandmother would make a pan of biscuits for every meal. And she also made an extra pan for her bread pudding, cooked in a wood stove.
Yummy! Linda brought this to a party and I thought it was just wonderful. It is a terrific blend of flavors and has just the right hint of brandy - Jean Higgins Root
Desserts and Sweets
