Praline Bread Pudding

By LRay

Southern Living, March 2016, page 120.

We gave our favorite bread pudding a Louisiana-style revival with the addition of an oh-so-decadent homemade Praline Sauce. Our Test Kitchen recommends using stale, day-old bread—better for soaking up the sweet custard.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 cups milk
• 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 (16-oz.) day-old French bread loaf, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 14 cups)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped toasted pecans
• PRALINE SAUCE
• 3 Tablespoons (1 1/2 ounce)salted butter
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt.

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from myrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preparation

1. Whisk together first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Add bread cubes, stirring to coat thoroughly. Let stand 1 hour, stirring occasionally to ensure an even coating. Stir in pecans.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish; pour bread mixture into dish. Bake in preheated oven until bubbly around edges and firm in center, about 1 hour, shielding with aluminum foil after 45 to 50 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve with Praline Sauce.

PRALINE SAUCE

Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until foamy and golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in cream and brown sugar; cook, whisking constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in vanilla, nutmeg, and salt; cook whisking constantly until bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes.