The final festivities of Mardi Gras are happening today! ‘Mardi Gras’ comes from the French and is translated to mean ‘Fat Tuesday’, referring to the custom of using up all the fats in the home before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. I certainly used up a bit of the staples in our kitchen that would be considered fat with this recipe! And the result is absolutely delicious!
With roots that go back to the thrifty domestic kitchens of 13th century Europe, the essence of bread pudding is stale bread. Soaked in milk, eggs, butter, and sugar, then baked and covered in a sweet sauce, this dessert is especially popular in New Orleans for Mardi Gras celebrations.
While there are numerous variations of bread pudding, this one is pretty basic. Raisins, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and allspice flavor the pudding. A rich vanilla sauce completes the dessert and makes for a delicious ending to Carnival season!
Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce (a compilation of recipes from twopeasandtheirpod.com and allrecipes.com) Total Time Required: 1 hour 5 minutes, Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 50 minutes, Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients:
Bread Pudding:
- 1 pound loaf stale French bread
- 3 cups milk
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup raisins
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Vanilla Sauce:
- 1-1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
For the Bread Pudding: Cut the crust off the stale bread and cut it into 1-inch squares.
Cut off the crust and cube the bread.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and add the milk to the bowl. Mix the bread and milk together until all of the milk has been absorbed.
Add the milk to the bread cubes.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice together.
Combine the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice.
Pour the mixture over the bread and stir to combine.
Add the mixture to the milk soaked bread.
Gently stir in the raisins.
Stir in the raisins.
Pour the melted butter into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan with the butter. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared pan.
Pour the bread mixture into a baking dish.
Bake it for 40 – 45 minutes, until the bread pudding is set, and the corners are lightly browned. Let the pudding cool on a wire rack.
Bake until the pudding is set and the edges are browned.
For Vanilla Sauce: whisk together the milk, brown sugar, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a heavy saucepan until smooth.
Combine the ingredients for the sauce.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 8 to 12 minutes. Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Stir the vanilla into the sauce.
Cut the bread pudding into squares and serve warm with the vanilla sauce.
Serve the pudding warm with the sauce.
Let the good times roll! ~Linda
Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce (a compilation of recipes from twopeasandtheirpod.com and allrecipes.com) Total Time Required: 1 hour 5 minutes, Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 50 minutes, Makes: 8 -10 servings
Ingredients:
Bread Pudding:
- 1 pound loaf stale French bread
- 3 cups milk
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup raisins
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Vanilla Sauce:
- 1-1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
For the Bread Pudding: Cut the crust off the stale bread and cut it into 1-inch squares. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and add the milk to the bowl. Mix the bread and milk together until all of the milk has been absorbed.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice together. Pour the mixture over the bread and stir to combine. Gently stir in the raisins.
Pour the melted butter into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan with the butter. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared pan and bake it for 40 – 45 minutes, until the bread pudding is set, and the corners are lightly browned. Let the pudding cool on a wire rack.
For Vanilla Sauce: whisk together the milk, brown sugar, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 8 to 12 minutes. Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Cut the bread pudding into squares and serve warm with the vanilla sauce.