Irish Whiskey Marmalade Bread Pudding

Mmmmmm. Did someone say Bread Pudding? Comfort food at its finest if you ask me. It is enjoyed all over the world with each country putting its own special spin on it. Like in Canada it is often made with maple syrup and in Puerto Rico you will find it with coconut milk and a rum guava sauce. So for St. Patrick’s Day I thought this Irish Whiskey Marmalade Bread Pudding would be perfection!

Bread Pudding started out as a pretty rustic dish and folks have been enjoying it for some time. It can be traced all the way back to the 11th century. It was a pretty frugal dish, made to use up bread that was going stale. In 13th century England it was referred to as ‘poor man’s pudding”. How far it has come. Not so humble anymore you can find it offered up in some of the most posh and trendy restaurants.

A couple of years ago I shared a recipe for Irish Whiskey Marmalade. I thought the bright  citrus goodness of that marmalade would be a perfect complement to my pudding. I originally got this award winning Irish Whiskey Marmalade recipe from my friend Theresa’s cookbook  Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen by Theresa Storey.

Theresa and I met in college when she was finishing up her degree in botany. After college, Theresa moved back to rural County Limerick and started her own business, The Green Apron, which is an artisan preserve company. Theresa grows much of the fruit and vegetables she uses in her preserves at her family’s orchards at Derryclough and in the walled vegetable garden at her parents 18th Century castle, Glenwilliam.

Her award-winning preserves are made in small batches by traditional methods using locally sourced, organic produce where possible and without artificial preservatives, colours or setting agents. The Green Apron has won 15 Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards, 7 International Great Taste awards and is listed not only in McKenna’s Guide, but also in Georgina Campbell’s Guide. The Green Apron is also now offering workshops on sustainable living, preserving and bee keeping.

But let me get back to today’s recipe. The Irish Whiskey Marmalade I made to brighten my bread pudding is a three fruit marmalade consisting of grapefruit, oranges and lemons and a good glug of Irish Whiskey. It is one of The Green Apron’s best-selling jams and won a bronze Blas na h’Eireann (Taste of Ireland Competition) in 2015. I have included the recipe for it which makes about 5 pints. That is quite a bit more than you need for this recipe. But I will say, it is amazing stuff. You will be delighted to have extra on hand. I have used  it to enhance other dishes in the past such as these Irish Whiskey Marmalade Tarts 

as well as this Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail

And this scrumptious Batley Cake

Great recipes to be sure and this Bread Pudding is right at home with them. So warming, cozy and comforting and a bit boozy I must say with the whiskey in the marmalade and well as the pudding. The bright citrus flourish will remind you that Spring is right around the corner. Serve it warm with some whipped cream or ice cream. But I’ve got to tell you, this Irish Whiskey Marmalade Bread Pudding is so delicious it stands fine all on its own.

• Servings: 4 -6
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 6 – 8 slices of day old bread (I used challah, brioche would also be great, or plain white bread)
• 50 grams butter, room temperature
• 4 – 6 Tablespoon Irish Whiskey Marmalade (recipe noted below)
• 250 ml heavy cream
• 50 ml milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 4 Tablespoons demerara sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Irish Whiskey
• Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting over top

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C)

Butter the bread on both sides. Spread half of the pieces with marmalade. Cover with the remaining slices of bread to make marmalade sandwiches. Cut the sandwiches into quarters or halves depending on the bread size and your chosen baking dish and arrange them in the dish. I used an oval casserole measuring about 10″ x 8″. A 9″x 9″ would also work well.

Combine the cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar and whiskey. Pour the mixture over the marmalade sandwiches. Set aside for 30 minutes or so to allow the bread to absorb all of that goodness.

Dot the remaining marmalade over the top of the bread. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until set. Remove from oven and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve warm with whipped cream, ice cream or simply plain.

For the Irish Whiskey Marmalade:

Ingredients:

• 1 ruby grapefruit
• 2 medium sweet oranges
• 4 lemons
• 3.4 kg (6 pints) water
• 2.7 kg (6 lbs) sugar
• 60 ml (2 fl. oz.) good Irish Whiskey
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice (Please note, mixed spice is different from all-spice. Mixed spice, sometimes also called pudding spice is a British spice similar to pumpkin pie spice, containing cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. I have a link for it below, or hereis a recipe for it.)

Directions:

Place a saucer into the refrigerator to chill.

Wash the grapefruit, oranges and lemons. Remove any blemishes from the skin and cut them into quarters. Place in the food processor and process on high speed until the peel is reduced to 6-mm (1/4″) pieces. If you like a bigger peel in your marmalade, don’t process it for so long, and if you like very little peel, process it for longer.

Put the processed citrus in a preserving pot with the water, stir well and cook on a high heat, stirring occasionally, until the peel is cooked and smooshes to wee pieces between your fingers. This usually takes an hour.

Add the sugar, stir well and cook over a high heat, stirring occasionally, until the marmalade reaches setting point, with a marmalade this usually takes 20 -40 minutes.

Spoon a little of the boiling preserve onto the cold saucer. Let it cool and then push it with your finger. If it has reached setting point, the top of the blob of marmalade will wrinkle. Marmalades should have wrinkles at least 2 -3 mm hight.

Remove from heat. Skim off any seeds and sugar foam.

Add 60 ml (2 fl oz) of good Irish Whiskey and 1 teaspoon of ground mixed spice.

Pour into warm sterilized jars to within 6 mm (1/4″) of the top. Wipe any drips off the rims of the jars to make sure there is a good seal between the jar and lid. A dampened paper towel works well for this. Place the lids on and seal.

Enjoy!

Irish Whiskey Marmalade Bread Pudding brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for helpful kitchen tools & ingredients for Irish Whiskey Marmalade Bread Pudding:

Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Cuisinart Pro-Classic Food Processor

Kilner Stainless Steel Jam Pan

Ball Mason 4 oz quilted jelly jars

Canning Magnetic Lid Wand

Norpro 600 Jar Lifter

Ball Canning Funnel

Mixed Spice

Oxo Good Grips Baker’s Dusting Wand

Folláin Irish Whiskey Marmalade – If you don’t have the time to make up a batch of marmalade before St. Patrick’s Day, nor can you travel to the Limerick Milk Market to buy a jar from The Green Apron, here is an option for Irish Whiskey Marmalade that will show up on your doorstep!

 

Apple Cider Glazed Donut Bread Pudding with Maple Butter Rum Sauce

 

Yes. You did read that recipe title correctly. It does indeed say Apple Cider Glazed Donut Bread Pudding. And yeah, I doesn’t stop there, it then adds the phrase  “with Maple Butter Rum Sauce”. I can hardly believe it myself and I actually made the dish, which I can tell you is exactly as amazing as you might imagine. Perhaps even more so. I found myself just staring at the husband in some sort of a donut bread pudding induced stupor and saying “this is really good”…”no..I mean this is really good!” over and over. This might actually be the best bread pudding I’ve ever had.

So I know I just told you about how I went a bit mad with the deep-fryer earlier in the week and fried up a big batch of Apple Cider Glazed Donuts. Well the husband and I polished off quite a few of them as soon as they hit the cooling and rack and I immediately sent a fresh batch over to the neighbors. Yet, we still had quite a few of those little devils lurking about the kitchen. It was then that I remembered seeing a recipe at Sift & Whisk for a Cinnamon Sugar Donut Bread Pudding and knew just what I was going to do. And boy oh boy was I glad I did!

Any type of donut you have on hand will work here, the cake type or the yeast risen type. And I suppose you don’t need to go all crazy like I did and make all the donuts yourself. (Though you really should…) You could go to one of those lovely Farmer’s Markets, or even your local bakery, and simply buy a dozen. But believe you me, you do want to make this pudding!

Warm, comforting, apple-y, maple-y Fall bliss! I absolutely loved the tiny bits of apple added into the mix. And that Maple Butter Rum Sauce? It is divine! How could it not be? It’s got Maple Syrup, butter and Rum in it! I could probably just lap that up all on its own. The husband, who adores Bread Pudding, was completely over the moon with this dish. He didn’t hesitate to declare it the best he’d ever eaten. And I wager you’ll say the same. I mean come on…lets just say it again. Apple Cider Glazed Donut…Bread Pudding…with Maple Butter Rum Sauce. And there you have it!

• Servings: 6
• Difficulty: easy once you have the stale donuts on hand
• Print

recipe adapted from: Sift and Whisk

Ingredients:

For the Bread Pudding:

• 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, divided
• 1 large Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch cubes (or whatever type apple you prefer)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) granulated sugar, divided
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or sub in vanilla extract if you don’t have the paste)
• 1 Tablespoon boiled cider (optional – but it will really kick up that apple flavour!)
• 8 stale Apple Cider glazed donuts, cut into cubes (or whatever stale donuts you have on hand)

For the Maple Butter Rum Sauce:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 -2 Tablespoons dark rum
• Demerara sugar for sprinkling over the top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a sauté pan, melt 4 tablespoons (55 grams) of butter over medium-high heat. Add apple cubes and 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar and cook until apples are soft and translucent, 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup (200 grams) sugar, eggs, egg yolk, cream, vanilla paste and boiled cider until smooth. Add donut cubes and cooked apples and gently toss to coat. Let soak for 5 – 10 minutes, occasionally turning the mixture gently so that all of those donut cubes get a good soaking.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Brush a 9×9-inch (or similar sized – I used a gratin dish) baking pan with ½ tablespoon of butter. Pour bread pudding into the pan and distribute evenly. Drizzle remaining ½ tablespoon of butter over the top of the pudding. Sprinkle a bit of Demerara sugar over the top.

Place Bread Pudding Pan in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with water until it comes half way up the sides of the Pudding pan. ( I suppose this is optional. The original recipe which I adapted did not use a water bath. However, when baking bread puddings I always do. Likely because my Mom did. But I have read that a water bath ensures the custard will not curdle and that the top of the pudding will remain moist and tender. All of which sound good to me…so I persist.)

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, until custard is set up. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve with Maple Butter Rum Sauce.

For the Maple Butter Rum Sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine maple syrup and butter and heat over medium-high heat until butter is melted. Add the brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Cook for 30 seconds, then remove from heat and stir in rum. Drizzle over warm bread pudding.

Enjoy!

Apple Cider Glazed Donut Bread Pudding with Maple Butter Rum Sauce brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

 

 

Bourbon Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

Since I just shared that wonderfully spicy Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya recipe with you, I thought you might like something with a bit of a Creole flavour to serve for dessert. New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding is just such a dessert. Usually this bread pudding would be made with a French baguette or other egg rich bread like brioche or challah.But I had just made a huge batch of Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. Those Buns were deeee-lish!

The best Hot Cross Buns I have made to date. However, there were quite of few of those gems sitting around here. Even after the husband and I had eaten our fill, and I’d set one aside for its good luck/medicinal value, we still had quite a few and they were rapidly heading towards a very stale state. Perfect for Bread Pudding! Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding!

Oh and don’t forget that I’m putting some Bourbon in the mix as well. That is always a good thing! I had made Dorie Greenspan’s Bourbon Bread Pudding before and knew it was a winner, so I just made her Bourbon Bread pudding using my Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns for the bread. I decided to make up a bit of Bourbon Syrup to drizzle over the pudding as well. Oh yeah…and we might have added a little scoop of ice cream on the side. Let me tell you, this bread pudding is just da bomb! I hope you won’t wait until next Easter to make it!

Bourbon Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

Recipe slightly adapted from: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces left over Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Demerara sugar to sprinkle over top

For the Bourbon syrup:

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Bourbon ( I like Knob Creek)

Directions:

Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan ( Pyrex or ceramic will work well. I had so many Buns left over to use, I doubled the recipe and made mine in a 9×13″ pan). Line a roasting pan big enough to hold the loaf pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Cut the buns into 1″ cubes and remove the cross from the top of the bun as it tends to have a tough texture. If the bread is stale, put it into the loaf pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchments and bake it in a 350° F oven to “stale” it for 10 minutes. Once finished, place the bread in the loaf pan and set the loaf pan in the middle of the roasting pan.

Bring milk and cream just to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl. Still whisking slowly drizzle in about one-quarter of the hot milk mixture-this will temper, or warm the eggs so they don’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining milk. Add the bourbon and vanilla and whisk gently to blend. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop any bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Cover the pan lightly with wax paper and leave it on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 1 hour.

Center a rack in an oven preheated to 350°F.

Discard the wax paper. Sprinkle Demerara sugar over the top of the pudding. Cover the loaf pan snugly with a piece of aluminum foil. Poke about 5 holes in the foil. Slide the roasting pan/loaf pan into the oven and very carefully pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake the pudding for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes more, or until the pudding is puffed and golden and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool the pudding until it is just warm, or reaches room temperature.

While pudding is baking make the Bourbon Syrup. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil for about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Bourbon. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.

Once you a ready to serve the pudding, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and serve with a Bourbon syrup drizzle. Or you could go even one step further and serve it along with a scoop of ice cream.

Enjoy!

Apricot & Date Guinness Slices with a Guinness Cream Sauce

Only 7 more days until St. Patrick’s Day! Today I thought I’d post another great recipe that I found on one of my favourite blogs, Edible Ireland, Apricot & Date Guinness Slices with a Guinness Cream Sauce. These delicious, boozy fruit filled treats not only have Guinness in the mix, but there is some Jameson thrown in for good measure. Just what the doctor ordered!

Incredibly moist, these Guinness Slices are very similar to sticky toffee pudding or a bread pudding. When drenched in the dreamy Guinness Cream Sauce they are just to die for!

My husband, who loves all desserts made with fruit, as I have mentioned previously, was very happy with them. However, as much as he loves fruit, he dislikes nuts in desserts. I think it’s a texture thing, because he is fine with nuts on their own, but doesn’t like to find them lurking about unexpectedly. So, I did not include the walnuts when I made this recipe, but I think if you like nuts, the added crunch would be great. For a different St. Patrick’s Day desserts, give these Guinness Slices a whirl!

Apricot & Date Guinness Slices with a Guinness Cream Sauce

recipe from: Edible Ireland

yield: 9 squares

Ingredients:

for the squares:

• 1 Cup (150 g) stoned dates, chopped
• 3/4 Cup (120 g) dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (150 ml) Guinness
• 1/2 Cup (125 ml) water
• 1/3 Cup (75 ml) Whiskey ( I used Jameson)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (175 g) Demerara sugar
• 1/2 Cup (100 g) butter, softened
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange (medium-sized)
• 1 1/2 Cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup (100 g) chopped walnuts

for the sauce:

• 5 Tablespoons (75 g) butter
• 1/3 Cup (75 ml) Guinness
• 1/3 Cup (75 ml) heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a 8 inch (21 cm) square brownie tin with parchment paper.

Put the dates, apricots, Guinness, water, whiskey and baking soda in a saucepan. Place over a gentle heat until the dates soften and break down, stirring occasionally. This should take about 4 to 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and orange zest.

Fold the flour, walnuts and the cooled date mixture into the egg mix and transfer to the prepared tin. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack. Cut into 9 squares.

To make the sauce, place the butter, Guinness, cream and honey in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat until the honey has dissolved. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened. Serve warm, drizzled over the slices.

Enjoy!

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding with a Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce

Now that Halloween is over and I’ve got all those spooky treats out of my system, I can get back to my Fall  fresh apple obsession. This recipe is part two of my covert mission to hide some morsels of the Harvest Apple Challah bread that I made a short time ago, for the purpose of making other tasty treats with it. First I managed to make some lovely Harvest Apple French Toast with a bit from my hidden stash. Then I made these two charming little ramekins of Harvest Apple Bread Pudding. And I couldn’t just stop there… Oh No! I went ahead a whipped up some mouth-watering Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the top. The recipe below actually makes about 1 cup of the stunning salty-sweet concoction, which is quite a bit more than you’ll need here, but you’ll be very happy to have it around. This sauce is really quite good and goes well over ice cream, baked apples, pancakes, you name it. It’s even good squirted right out of the bottle ( not that I would be doing that… in public anyway 🙂 ). I did drizzle some right over the tops of my Harvest Apple Bread Pudding though. The result was absolutely scrumptious.

This recipe, like my previous Harvest Apple French Toast, calls for “Maple Sugar”. Maple Sugar is made from the sap of the sugar maple tree and is significantly sweeter than granulated sugar. It can be found in the sugar section of most large grocery stores, or if not in your town, it can be order online. (I’ve seen it on Amazon.) I mentioned that you could swap it out for granulated sugar if you wanted, but you might want to increase the sugar amount a bit and probably won’t get as mapley a taste. However, the sauce does call for imitation maple extract, so that might just be enough for you.

Once my husband got his hands on this dessert, all secrecy and hoarding behaviour on my part was forgiven. (He actually didn’t even suspect a thing…I’m that good!) We devoured these puddings in no time flat! So if you haven’t made the Harvest Apple Challah yet, get baking! You don’t miss out on this delicious Harvest Apple Bread Pudding!

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding with a Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce

yields: Two 8 oz. Ramekins

Ingredients:

For Bread Puddings:

• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubed Harvest Apple Challah bread
• 2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk or heavy cream if you’re feeling particularly decadent
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Maple sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

For Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce:

Yields: 1 cup

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 5-6 drops of imitation maple extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, or until toasted.

Combine milk, maple sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and egg in a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Add toasted bread cubes and toss until coated. Gently push bread down into liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter the inside of two 7-8 oz. ramekins. Divide the chilled bread/egg mixture evenly between the two ramekins.

Place ramekins in an 8-inch pan and add about an inch of hot water. Bake, uncovered, for about 35 minutes or until set.

While the puddings are baking, prepare the Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar. Whisk until sugar melts and mixture is thick and boiling. Slowly whisk in cream. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking often, though not constantly. Boil until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Whisk in coarse salt and maple extract.

Just prior to serving, drizzle each pudding with the salted maple-caramel sauce.

Enjoy!

Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce Recipe from Bon Appetit as seen on Epicurious

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding Recipe adapted from Chocolate Bread Pudding for Two on Craving Chronicles

Lemon Curd Bread Pudding with Blackberry Glaze for my Valentine

I know chocolate gets all the prominent billing with almost everyone for Valentine’s Day, but not with my sweetie. He likes chocolate o.k., I mean who doesn’t,  but given the choice of delectable treats, he will go for the offering with fruit in it 9 times out of 10. So when searching for a Valentine treat that I could whip up for him, I kept his love of bread pudding as well as lemon bars in mind. I had seen a recipe for Meyer Lemon Marmalade Bread Pudding that I was dying to make at Spoon with Me a while ago. If you haven’t taken a peek at her site, you are truly missing out. Her recipes are fantastic and her photography is stunning. She had made the Meyer Lemon Marmalade that she used in this dish herself and I didn’t see any such thing available in my local grocery stores. Nor was I industrious enough to make said marmalade. However, my Valentine loves lemon curd, which we have plenty of in the house, so I adapted the recipe. I figured the curd wouldn’t make a very pretty glaze on top of the pudding, but another favourite of my darlin’s is blackberry preserves. Voila! He was very pleased with the results!

Lemon Curd Bread Pudding with Blackberry Glaze

The fun thing about this recipe is that it is very customizable. You can replace the marmalade with whatever fruit strikes your fancy, or mix it up like I did with one flavour of pudding and a different glaze. Or you can just add different toppings to the pudding. I must admit that I really do love chocolate and was having a complete chocolate fit watching the flood of great chocolate Valentine’s recipes go by, so I might have made a couple of these little ramekins of pudding with a chocolate chip topping.

Lemon Curd Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chip Topping

Excellent as well! And everyone is happy! (Just between us, I am still hoping for a Valentine’s Day cupcake, but my Valentine knows me well, so I don’t think I will be disappointed.) Veuve Clicquot goes well with both bread pudding and cupcakes, so we’ll be set. 🙂

Yum!

Lemon Curd Bread Pudding with Blackberry Preserve Glaze

* 1 loaf challah bread

* 3 1/2 Cups heavy cream (you could substitute half & half or  even 2% milk if you wish to be more virtuous)

* 1 scant cup granulated sugar

* 2 eggs

* 2 egg yolks

* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1/2 cup Lemon Curd

* 1/2 cup raisins

* 2 tablespoons butter

* Seedless Blackberry preserves for glazing-about 6 teaspoons

Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter 6  eight ounce ramekins.

Remove the crust from the Challah bread. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes and toast for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and then place in large bowl.

Place the raisins in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit until plump and moist, about 15 minutes or so. Drain well and sprinkle raisins over bread crumbs.

Heat the lemon curd and butter in a small saucepan until melted and combined. Remove from heat and pour over bread cubes. Gently toss.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Heat cream in medium saucepan over medium heat until it simmers.

Slowly add the heated cream to the egg mixture, whisking constantly until combined. If you add the cream too quickly it will cause the eggs to cook!

Pour the custard over the bread cubes and gently toss until coated. Allow bread to soak-up custard for 30 minutes. Fill the buttered ramekins with the bread-custard mixture, making sure to equally distribute the raisins which may have sunk to the bottom of the bowl. Bake* for 25 minutes, or until tops of the puddings began to brown. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the blackberry glaze over the top of each pudding. Bake for 5 more minutes.

*Puddings can be refrigerated overnight prior to baking. When ready to bake, remove ramekins from refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature before placing them in the oven.

 

Happy Valentine's Day Darlin!