White Chocolate Cranberry Bread Pudding with English Custard Sauce
Directions:
60 oz. Heavy Cream
15 Whole Eggs
3 oz Vanilla
3 oz. Whiskey
3 c. Granulated Sugar
20 slices, White Bread or Egg Bread, crusts removed
1 c. White Chocolate Chips
½ c. Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Craisins)
1/3 stick Whole Butter
Assemble the ingredients. Having the bread trimmed and dried before assembling will quicken the process but also yield a lighter
bread pudding. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x9 baking dish. Ladle enough custard into the baking dish to coat the bottom.
Lay 4 slices or enough bread to cover the bottom. Pour enough custard to cover the bread slices. Allow the bread to absorb the
custard before proceeding. Sprinkle sporadically 1/3rd of the white chocolate and cranberries on the soaked bread. Lay another
layer of bread on top of that pouring more custard on the slices allowing it to absorb before continuing to duplicate the layers
accordingly. Use up all of the bread, chocolate and cranberries reserving enough custard to end with bread slices then custard.
Allow the custard to absorb into the final layer of bread. Then thinly slice the remaining butter and dot the top of the
bread mixture evenly.
Wrap with foil and place into a water bath in a 350 degree oven for approx.45 minutes or until the pudding has crowned and risen
in the middle. Remove the foil and allow to brown until desired color another 10-12 minutes or so. Cool in the water bath then
finish cooling on a cooling rack. Serve warm from the pan or allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Can be reheated in the micro-wave. Spoon the custard sauce over the warm bread pudding and serve immediately.
English Custard Sauce
Directions:
1 qt. ½ & ½ Cream
½ ea. Vanilla Bean, split
12 ea. Egg Yolks
10 oz. Granulated Sugar
Bring the ½ & ½ and the vanilla bean just to a boil to release the aroma of the vanilla. Remove from the heat.
In a separate mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until well combined.
Temper the egg yolk mixture with up to 1/3rd of the warm cream mixture. Stirring it in as it is added. Then pour the tempered yolk
mixture into the hot cream mixture stirring as you add it in until all has been incorporated.
Return the mixture to the stove stirring constantly over medium high heat until the custard sauce becomes thick enough to coat
the back of a spoon. Using an instant read thermometer this should occur around 175 degrees. Remove from the heat.
Do not go above 180 degrees or boil the sauce it will curdle and break. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
Immediately strain the sauce through a fine strainer and cool the sauce in an ice bath until cold.
Cover and refrigerate. Sauce is good for 3-4 days.
