Brendan Bread Pudding from Luke's restaurant

By Janet-2

Chef John Besh of Luke's Restaurant in San Antonio created this recipe for his son, Brendan.

Ingredients

• For the bread pudding
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Grated zest of one orange
• 11 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups stale French bread, small diced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• For the sauce
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark rum
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• For the candied almonds
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup sugar

Details

Adapted from chefjohnbesh.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. For the bread pudding, preheat oven to 350°.

Whisk together the milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest, and eggs into a large bowl. Stir in the bread cubes and soak them for 30 minutes.

Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and pour mixture into it. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

2. For the sauce,melt the butter in a medium sauce-pan over moderate heat, until it turns a light brown color, with a rich, hazelnut aroma, about 5 minutes. Add the corn syrup, sugar, rum, cream, salt and vanilla. Reduce the sauce until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

3. For the candied almonds, mix the almonds, egg white, and sugar together in a bowl. Spread the almonds on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350° oven until golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Stir nuts every 4-5 minutes to ensure that they bake evenly.

4. To serve, scoop a large spoonful of warm bread pudding onto each of 10 plates. Pour the buttered rum sauce over the pudding and scatter candied almonds over the top.