When the waitress brought the dessert to our table, just looking at it, I knew it would be good. When I tasted it, even better than that. There aren't many desserts that can beat this bread pudding...the texture, the flavor; they were divine. I'm hooked. To add to that, we were already stuffed, and it was still the most delectable thing we'd had in a long time.
When we got home that evening, I was still thinking about it. Sad, I know, but I was. I also knew it had to be unhealthy. Something that tastes that good couldn't possibly be good for you! Thank heavens for the internet; I was able to look up the recipe. And thank heavens, the recipe had been posted.
Well, one ingredient the recipe calls for is bourbon. Since I don't have bourbon in my house on a regular basis, (okay, not at all) I knew I'd have to go to the liquor store and buy some or do without. Well. I didn't want to leave the ingredient out of the recipe, (what if that is what made it so great!) but I also wasn't going to the liquor store to buy any...not even a tiny bottle of it. With my luck, a member of my church would see me and think I was actually going there to buy some to drink! I got online and researched substitutions and found that vanilla is one substitution. Then I got lucky and found this:
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This is definitely a far cry from the large dollar store imitation vanilla extract I bought a couple of months back. If I'm going to create such a wonderful dessert, I had better do it justice and use something decent, or special, especially if it's replacing the bourbon. ;)
If you want some for yourself, BUY HERE
The day the vanilla extract arrived, I of course went to the store to buy the bread and whipping cream for the bread pudding. I could hardly wait. I wasn't sure what to buy. After reading many opinions online, I decided not to stress too much about it and bought some dense rolls in the bakery section at our local grocery store. I did let them dry out a bit in the bowl after I cut them into cubes, but I really don't think it would have made much of a difference in the quality of the bread pudding for this particular recipe.
My substitutions
Instead of using the Egg Beaters, I just used regular eggs. 4 large eggs = 1 cup of Egg Beaters
The recipe posted doesn't specify how much of the custard mixture to add to the bread cubes or how much to pour on top after it is poured into the baking dish. I just added it all at once and then poured it into the greased baking dish. (9x13)
It took longer that 40 minutes for my bread pudding to cook thoroughly. I kept checking it until it looked firm in the center.
I replaced the bourbon with the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract using 1 Tablespoon extract and adding 2 Tablespoons of water.
I didn't let the "bourbon" sauce cool to room temperature before adding the vanilla (or bourbon if you are using that). I did let it cool slightly though.
As soon as the sauce was done, I cut a slice of bread pudding, and poured the warm sauce over the top and served it.
Posting this to my blog was an afterthought of making this wonderful dessert, so I don't have many pictures to show.
Here is the wonderful "Bourbon" sauce:
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Here is the finished product, looking as pretty as I can make it:
This bread pudding turned out just as delicious as I had hoped for. The texture, the flavor; everything was absolutely perfect. The extra nice part, was not having to pay for one at a the restaurant for every member of my family, just so they could too, experience how wonderful this was. Of course, it's always nice to NOT have to cook or bake, but this recipe was very easy to make. I'm glad it's gone now, because after making it, I know even more so how unhealthy it is. Just tasting it at the restaurant, I knew it was bad for me. As a person who tries to stay fit and maintain relatively healthy eating habits, this was probably about as bad as it can get. It was worth it though, definitely worth it.
Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Ruby River Steakhouse and KUTV.com
Bread Pudding (read above for substitutions)
1 bag Bread
4 oz. Melted Butter
1 cup Egg Beaters
2 cups Sugar
2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
5 cups Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1. Beat the egg beaters, sugar, vanilla, milk, cinnamon and salt together until smooth.
2. Pour melted butter into mix and mix well.
3. Place bread chunks into large mixing bowl.
4. Pour (?) of the custard mixture over bread mixture and squeeze bread to incorporate custard.
5. Pour into greased 2 hotel pan. (I used a 9x13)
6. Pour remaining custard mixture over bread.
7. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until firm in center.
(If saving for a later date)
8. Remove from oven and cool at room temperature for approximately 15 minutes.
9. Then place in walk-in for further cooling.
8. Remove from oven and cool at room temperature for approximately 15 minutes.
9. Then place in walk-in for further cooling.
10. Cut into 4 squares.
11. Wrap, date and freeze.
Bourbon Sauce (read above for substitutions)
1 lb. Melted Butter
1 cup Egg Beaters
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1-2 oz. Bourbon Whiskey
1. Place melted butter in pan over low heat.
2. Add sugar and eggs; stirring constantly.
3. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes until base begins to thicken.
4. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
5. Add bourbon to sauce using a wire whisk.
11. Wrap, date and freeze.
Bourbon Sauce (read above for substitutions)
1 lb. Melted Butter
1 cup Egg Beaters
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1-2 oz. Bourbon Whiskey
1. Place melted butter in pan over low heat.
2. Add sugar and eggs; stirring constantly.
3. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes until base begins to thicken.
4. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
5. Add bourbon to sauce using a wire whisk.
ENJOY!!!
