Working in a restaurant kitchen means a few things. You wear the same shoes as hardworking nurses because standing for prep afternoon and service night is no joke. You speak at least enough Spanish to insult someone’s kitchen speed or hairline and enough Spanish to ask for food nicely. You know that the best salads are tossed by hands likely not wearing gloves, that the dishwasher is king, and that the bread pudding in the walk-in cooler is likely very good day one from the oven and decreases in goodness the longer it sits in the walk-in cooler next to the blue cheese.
When you work in a restaurant kitchen you learn NOT to order the bread pudding on a rare night out at another restaurant.
…Unless, of course, you’r eat Ffiona’s in London where the bread pudding is served fresh, warm, and wobbly. It’s that jiggle that points to freshness, that means the bread pudding hasn’t languished next to stinky cheese and lost it’s luster.
This is London inspiration in New Orleans. All puffed and wobbly and this time, chocolate-drizzled.
A whole pan; puffed and fresh from the oven? This gives new meaning to the term ‘hot and heavy’.
(Really satisfied with that dad joke, thanks.)
Here’s how we start!
Very fine bread pudding starts with very fine stale bread and a rich, creamy custard. I think brioche makes the bread pudding of dreams, but the heart of this dish is that it’s made easily with whatever bread you have on hand that’s tired out and ready for cream. It’s just really nice and supremely delicious if that bread happens to be brioche. You pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down?
Toasted to dry and golden brown because dry bread is absorbent bread.
Eggs + whole milk + cream + ground cinnamon + dried cherries (or orange zest, or raisins, or chocolate chunks, or none at all).
The toasted bread is buttered reverently.
Buttering bread is like praying. Amen.
Buttered. Nothing too precious. Just right.
Right and ready to tear by hand into bite-size pieces. Big bites.
If you’re feeling like this is a messy endeavor, you’d be right.
Dried cherries if you fancy a bite of fruit.
I think these are a nice compliment to the chocolate sauce. Did I mention there was chocolate sauce? Yes / heck yes.
Torn toasted and buttered bread: Check!
Up next: egg cream custard!
Six eggs, a cuppa sugar, a whisk whisk whisk.
Vanilla extract, a good glug.
Ground cinnamon, a good shake.
A 5 cup mixture of whole milk and heavy cream in whatever proportions you’re feeling.
Obviously the more heavy cream we use, the more we’re teetering on the edge of decadence.
I like more whole milk than heavy cream. We’re savages, but we still like balance.
Poured big and bold over the toasted bread bites.
Here’s the trick, before the bread pudding goes in the oven it’s best to let the mixture sit, soak, and chill in the refrigerator. The bread will absorb the custard making it exactly moist and tender when it finally does emerge from the oven.
Glory be. Really!
While the bread pudding bakes to tender and puffed, I whipped together a super simple chocolate sauce and you absolutely should too.
We’re talking sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, milk, and butter. Very simple. The ability to make a quick chocolate sauce is a deeply valued life skill. Tuck that right in your back pocket and ease on down the road with it.
I love this bread pudding served, wobbly (as Ffiona insists), just slightly warmed, and served alongside a small dish of chocolate sauce for extra dipping.
Photos with: Jon Melendez
PrintBread and Butter Bread Pudding
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
Ingredients
For the Bread Pudding
- 16 to 18 ounces brioche bread, sliced
- 1/2 cup dried cherries, optional
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened and divided
- 3 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- scant 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Chocolate Sauce
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup bittersweet or milk chocolate pieces, whatever you have on hand that’s not unsweetened
Instructions
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bread slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes, but keep an eye on the bread to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Butter each slice of bread with the stick of butter, reserving 2 tablespoons of butter to grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- Tear the buttered bread slices into large, bite-size pieces and place in the buttered dish. This may prove to be a rather messy endeavor, but that’s ok… sure is worth the messy fingers.
- Add the dried cherries, if using, and move the bread around a bit to ensure the cherries are dispersed throughout.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, vanilla, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk until well combined and smooth.
- Pour the creamy egg mixture over the buttered bread in the pan. Press the bread down just slightly to ensure that it’s all well coated and the majority of it is soaking. Wrap lightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour (or even overnight).
- Just before baking, place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap bread pudding and place in the oven to bake until toasted, puffed and golden brown, about 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Make the chocolate sauce while the bread pudding is baking. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together cocoa powder, sugar, and milk. Once warmed and just beginning to bubble around the edges, add butter and chocolate pieces. Stir until completely melted and glossy. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before serving.
- If you need to thin the sauce again before baking, just reheat over low heat lightly and add a splash more milk.
- To serve, generously scoop bread pudding into bowls and drizzle lightly with warm chocolate sauce. Store remaining bread pudding covered in the refrigerator.
Tofu
Your recipe always be superb. I also use Tofu for stuffing breads for my breakfast. I would follow your this method.
Brian Cohen
Great recipe! (As a matter of fact, we made it our Recipe of the Week!) I made it this weekend, and the whole family loved it!
The only thing I did differently than the recipe is that I waited to make the chocolate sauce until the bread pudding was out of the oven and cooling (toward the end of the 30 minute wait time). That timing seemed better to me…
Also, I reheated the bread pudding yesterday at 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. For the chocolate sauce, I added a splash of milk, stirred, and reheated the sauce gently in the microwave. It all came out great!
Kat
Could I make it in smaller ramekins and freeze or save some in the fridge. I want to be able to eat it warm all week ;)
Mary
Oh, yeah. This is gonna happen.
Carolyn
I love your baking dish! Where did you find it? Also, YUM!
pee tee
Substitute the bread with stale croissants … it’s even more decadent & absolutely more delicious!!
Nic
This looks delicious! Where is that baking dish from?
joythebaker
It’s a KitchenAid baking dish! https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/kitchenware-1/bakeware-2/bakeware-3/-%5BKBLR04NSOB%5D-405022/KBLR04NSOB/
Libby
My mom used to own a bakery and she’d make bread pudding out of the day-old cinnamon rolls.
Maybe this is silly but I literally didn’t know that you could make bread pudding out of regular bread. I mean, look, it makes sense! I just didn’t know! :D
Jessica @ Citrus Blossom Bliss
So I never worked IN a restaurant kitchen, but I was a server/bartender for quite a stint and they always let me poke around in the kitchen. My chef friend made us Irish soda bread pudding (we worked in an Irish pub) and it was fabulous. I can get down with this version made at home. You know it hasn’t been sitting under plastic wrap for a minimum of 2 nights!
JD
Call it what you want. It’s your variation on a recipe and I’m sure it is as yummy as the rest of your recipe shares. I am definitely going to make this for a pot luck I have been tasked with bring a dessert to.
Thanks for sharing all the great recipes and the thought provoking browsing selections
Maureen @Raising The Capable Student
That looks epic.
JD
Call it whatever you wish. It is your variation on a theme and I am betting it will be every bit as yummy as all your other recipe shares.
I am definitely going to make this for a pot luck I am tasked with making a dessert for. And maybe a small side dish to have at home for seconds.
Thanks again for sharing your always interesting and uplifting trip through life.
JD
Sophie
Where is the rum ?!! I love a good splash of dark rum in my bread pudding ;)
katemai
Isn’t Ffiona a dear? We spent four months in Notting Hill last fall and she fed us many a delicious meal, including Thanksgiving lunch and Christmas Eve dinner (on the 23rd). Did you try her pancakes????
Laura Costello
This looks sooooo good–this week it will happen here in my house. Portuguese sweet bread also makes incredible bread pudding and french toast.