New Orleans Bread Pudding

Creamy custard, raisins, cinnamon, and French bread spell New Orleans style bread pudding!  Bread pudding started out as a way to use stale bread.  It seems like everyone has their own "secret" ingredient or method for making it, but it's delicious any way you make it.  Commander's Palace in New Orleans is famous for its Bread Pudding.   
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 Serves 8.
For Bread Pudding:
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup rum
2 egg yolks
5 whole eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 and 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
​1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 & 1/2 cups French bread in 1-inch cubes
​4 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
6 slices French bread, 1-inch thick
For Topping:
1 additional tablespoon sugar
​1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
​For Bourbon Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, melted
2 teaspoons Bourbon
  1. Soak raisins in rum until plump - about 20 minutes.
  2. Beat together to make a pudding:  egg yolks, eggs, and sugar.  Slowly mix in milk and cream, then stir in the vanilla extract.
  3. In a large bowl, stir together the bread cubes, 2 tablespoons of the melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the rum and raisin mixture. 
  4. Pour about 3/4 of the pudding mixture over the bread cubes and stir.  Grease a 9 x 12-inch casserole and pour the bread-cube and pudding mixture into it.
  5. Dip each French bread slice into the rest of the pudding.  Place them in the casserole dish, making sure to go all the way to the edges.  Pour remaining pudding mixture on top.
  6. Slowly pour remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter over top. 
  7. Make the topping by stirring together sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle all over top of pudding.  
  8. Cover top of baking dish with aluminum foil and set on a cookie sheet (to avoid drips in the oven).  Place on middle rack of oven.  Set an oven-proof semi-deep bowl half-filled with water in the bottom of the oven or on the same rack as the bread pudding.  This provides some steam.  Bake at 350 degrees in preheated oven for 50 minutes,; remove foil cover and bake an additional 10 minutes until golden.
  9. While bread pudding is baking, make the Bourbon sauce.  Stir together the sugar, butter, and Bourbon in a saucepan over low heat until it is just at boiling.  Remove from heat.  Serve over individual slices of bread pudding.