EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Winter baking gives you and the kids something to do on those cold, rainy weekends, warms up the house and makes everything smell good, and, best of all, results in a delicious dessert.
Bread pudding could be the warmest and most comforting of them all. It’s a simple, centuries old dish that originated as a way to turn stale bread into a delicious fresh dish. Just soak pieces of bread with a sweet custard made with eggs, milk or cream, and sugar, then bake and enjoy as is or with a sauce.
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For such a simple idea, there are endless variations on bread pudding, from homey to fancy, with add-ins from dried fruit to chocolate to spices. We asked four Evansville pro cooks to tell us their favorite recipe.
Jeannie Kellams
The baking wizard at Cleo’s Bakery and Brown Bag Lunches is Jeannie Kellams. She and her siblings named the business after their mom, Cleo, who was a renowned baker who taught her children the way around the kitchen.
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“When I was young, my mom would make bread pudding for dessert when she had leftover bread or rolls,” Kellams said. “She made her own bread and dinner rolls and it wasn't very often that we had any left over, so when she made bread pudding, it was quite a treat. Mom didn't add any flavors other than vanilla. She left that up to me, I guess. It's fun to experiment with new flavors so feel free to add any extras that you want -- coconut, chocolate, any fruit etc.”
Cleo’s Vanilla Bread Pudding recipe
INGREDIENTS
12 cups of toasted bread cut into cubes. Any kind of bread. A mixture is good.
6 eggs
2 cups sugar
3 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla together. Gently fold in the bread cubes. Transfer the mixture to a buttered 9 x 13 pan. Bake for about an hour until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
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2. While the bread pudding is baking, make the sauce: in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and cream. Cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add vanilla. Pour the sauce over the top of the pudding while it’s warm.
Doug Rennie
Chef Doug Rennie, owner of Just Rennie’s Catering and Cookie Co., has been one of Evansville’s premier chefs since he came to town almost thirty years ago to head up the Ashley Grill. With his decades of upscale restaurant experience, we thought Rennie was bound to have a luscious and elegant bread pudding recipe for us, and he didn’t disappoint.
Doug Rennie’s New Orleans Bread Pudding with Lemon Sauce and Chantilly Cream
INGREDIENTS
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups milk
½ cup raisins
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans, dry roasted
5 cups very stale French or Italian bread cubes, with crusts on
Lemon Sauce:
1 lemon, halved
½ cup water
¼ sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish: Chantilly cream – ½ cup cold cream whipped with ½ teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs on high speed until extremely frothy and bubbles are the size of pinheads, about 3 minutes (or with a metal whisk for about 6 minutes).
2. Add the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter and beat on high until well blended. Beat in the milk, then stir in the raisins and pecans.
3. Place the bread cubes in a greased loaf pan. Pour the egg mixture over them and toss until the bread is soaked. Let sit until you see only a narrow bead of liquid around the pan’s edges, about 45 minutes, patting the bread down in the liquid occasionally. Place in the oven and immediately lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake 40 minutes.
4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake until pudding is well browned and puffy, about 15 to 20 minutes more.
5. While pudding is baking, make the lemon sauce: squeeze 2 tablespoons juice from the lemon halves and place juice in a 1-quart saucepan; add the lemon halves, water and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir in dissolved cornstarch and vanilla. Cook 1 minute over high heat, stirring constantly. Strain, squeezing the sauce from the lemon rinds. Makes about ¾ cup.
5. To serve, put 1 ½ T warm lemon sauce in each dessert dish, then spoon in ½ cup hot bread pudding and top with ½ cup Chantilly Cream.
Ronnie Lee
Ronnie Lee is retired now, but for many years was an Evansville caterer especially famous for his grilled whole beef tenderloins, cinnamon rolls and other baked goodies.
“I like bread pudding a lot and make it like I was taught many years ago,” he said. “I like a soft texture more than the cakey type, so I like using soft bread like hamburger buns and soft rolls. It gives it that pudding texture. I add milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and top it with caramel sauce.”
Ronnie Lee’s Bread Pudding
INGREDIENTS
3 packages hot dog or hamburger buns or any soft roll, cubed
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon good cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 gallon milk
3 or more eggs
1 tablespoon good vanilla
Caramel sauce:
1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Grease a 9x14-inch pan with two-inch sides. Mix cubed bread, melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well mixed together. Press into pan.
2. Mix milk, eggs and vanilla and pour over bread mixture. Allow to soak a bit. Bake at 350 for an hour to an hour and a half until raised but still springs when wiggled.
3. While the pudding is baking, make the caramel sauce: Place butter, brown sugar and cream into a sauce pan and heat to boiling. Pour over hot pudding when it is finished baking.
Ashley Corbetta
Bea Sweet Treats is a new bakery in Newburgh run by Ashley Corbetta and her mom Stephanie Post. Corbetta earned a degree in pastry arts from Sullivan University in Louisville and worked as a pastry chef at a few locations there.
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“I made this bread pudding when I worked at Anoosh Bistro in Louisville,” Corbetta said. “It’s a buttery bread pudding and the white chocolate just makes it extra! Brioche is by far the best bread to use. The key is to make it and let it sit overnight before you bake it. That way all the bread soaks up the liquid and it’s the best flavor and consistency.”
Ashley Corbetta’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding
INGREDIENTS
1 loaf brioche or sweet bread
4 oz butter, unsalted, melted
16 oz white chocolate chunks or chips
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
8 eggs
2 splashes vanilla
DIRECTIONS
1. Cube bread and put in large bowl with chocolate.
2. Mix cream, milk, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Place eggs and sugar into a bowl and slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into it.
3. Strain egg custard into the bread mixture. Add butter and mix all together.
4. Spray a 13x9 baking pan and add bread mixture. Cover with foil. Permit to sit overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Bake the bread pudding 30-40 minutes or untilt bounces back to the touch. Serve with ice cream.
Contact Aimee Blume at aimee.blume@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Bread pudding: recipes from four Evansville area bakers
