Bread pudding with bourbon sauce makes for delicious Mardi Gras - Boston Herald

Carnival, and especially Mardi Gras, are like a last fling, one final chance at debauchery — or at least gluttony and perhaps drunkenness — before the religious austerity and meditation of Lent.

Mardi Gras is celebrated around the world, but in America it is inextricably linked to New Orleans. Even those of us who are less likely to partake of the general licentiousness look to New Orleans for inspiration in cooking Mardi Gras food.

This bread pudding is rich and creamy, with bourbon, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, flavors that elevate any custard. Slightly stale bread is soaked in this cream-and-egg mixture for two full hours before cooking, so when it is baked the cubes of bread form a homogenous, delectable loaf.

The pudding would be exceptional on its own, but then you spoon a sweet cream sauce over it. The sauce is thickened with cornstarch dissolved in bourbon, which is an absolutely brilliant idea by the recipe’s author, Emeril Lagasse, one of New Orleans’ most celebrated chefs.

The bread pudding with the bourbon cream sauce by themselves would have been enough. But then Lagasse kicks it up another level, so to speak, by topping it with whipped cream spiced with cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg.

If you closed your eyes, you’d swear you’re in New Orleans.

CLASSIC NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING WITH A BOURBON SAUCE

For the bread pudding:

1 t. unsalted butter

4 large eggs

1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. freshly grated nutmeg

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1/4 c. bourbon

2 c. half-and-half

8 slices day-old French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 c.)

1/2 c. raisins, or more if desired

Sprigs fresh mint, for garnish (optional)

Powdered sugar, for serving

For the spiced cream: 

1 1/4 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. freshly grated nutmeg

For the bourbon sauce:

1 c. heavy cream

1 c. half-and-half

2 t. pure vanilla extract

6 T. granulated sugar

1 T. cornstarch

3 T. bourbon

To make the bread pudding, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 6-cup (9-inch-by-5-inch) loaf pan with the butter.

Whisk the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon together in a large mixing bowl until very smooth. Add the half-and-half and mix well. Add the bread and raisins and let the mixture sit for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until the pudding is set in the center, about 55 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

To make the spiced cream, beat the cream with an electric mixer on high speed in a large mixing bowl for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat again until the mixture thickens and forms stiff peaks, another 1 to 2 minutes.

To make the bourbon sauce, heat the cream, half-and-half, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan over high heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the bourbon. When bubbles form around the edges of the cream, whisk in the bourbon mixture. As the cream boils up, remove the pot from the heat and continue whisking vigorously until thoroughly blended and slightly thickened. Place over low heat and simmer for 1 minute. (This is not a thick cream sauce; it’s meant to be fairly thin.)

To serve, cut the pudding into 1-inch thick slices. Lay each slice in the center of a serving plate. Spoon some of the bourbon sauce over the pudding and top with the spiced cream. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and powdered sugar. Makes 9 servings.

(Recipe by Emeril Lagasse.)

— Tribune News Service

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Bread pudding with bourbon sauce makes for delicious Mardi Gras - Boston Herald
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