Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Picture
Ingredients
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons Milk
2 cups french bread, day-old, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raisins, soaked in cointreau or kirsch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, in small cubes

Directions
  1. Soak the bread in 6 tablespoons of the milk for 1 hour.
  2. Preheat oven to 300F. butter a 1-quart pan
  3. Beat the remaining milk, egg, sugar, and vanilla to combine well. Add the milk-soaked bread, then add the raisins and mix well.
  4. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Top with butter cubes.
  5. Bake for 1 hour, or until set. Allow to cool 30 minutes before cutting.
  6. Serve with Whiskey Sauce.
Whiskey Sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup bourbon

Directions
  1. Melt the butter over low heat.
  2. When hot, but not browned, add the sugar. Beat with whisk until thick and hot.
  3. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the beaten egg. Beat until emulsified, about 2 minutes
  4. Whisk in the bourbon and serve warm.

Critique
Chef: Nice plating, sauce on top is good, doesn't look too messy; nice caramelization, the sauce sinks into the body of the pudding; raisins soaked up a  lot of liquid. Overall good texture and flavor.

Personal/Team: delicious! the whiskey sauce had a strong flavor that went nice with the bread pudding. I really thought the texture was wonderful; soft and just melted in your mouth. We used a vanilla sugar (sugar that has been tossed with vanilla beans) and it added a nice flavor to the pudding.

Lessons Learned: it's important to make the right size on the custard and not try to make it too large or the custard won't cook all the way. Also, when making the whiskey sauce, be sure the sugar is all the way dissolved so it isn't grainy and be careful to pull the sauce away from the heat when adding the egg so it doesn't curdle. Soft should be creamy and thick and not grainy at all.