Bread Pudding With Whiskey Sauce

Photo: flickr user stu_spivack

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, softened

12 ounces loaf day old French or Italian type white bread

1 qt. milk

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup seedless raisins

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

8 tablespoons butter (1 quarter pound stick), cut into ½" bits

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup bourbon

Preparation

Serves 8 to 10.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a pastry brush, spread the softened butter evenly over the bottom and sides of a 13"x9"x2" baking serving dish. Set the dish aside.

Break the bread into chunks, dropping them into a bowl as you proceed, and pour milk over them. When the bread is softened, crumble it into small bits and let it continue to soak until all the milk is absorbed.

In a small bowl, beat 3 eggs and 2 cups of sugar together with a wire whisk or a rotary or electric beater until the mixture is smooth and thick. Stir in the raisins and vanilla extract, then pour the egg mixture over the bread crumbs and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.

Pour the bread pudding into the buttered dish, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Place the dish in a large shallow roasting pan set on the middle shelf of the oven and pour boiling water into the pan to a depth of about 1". Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the center of the pudding comes out clean.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce in the following fashion: Melt the butter bits in the top of a double boiler set over hot, not boiling, water. Stir 1 cup of sugar and 1 egg together in a small bowl and add the mixture to the butter. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves completely and the egg is cooked, but do not let the sauce come anywhere near a boil or the egg will curdle. Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature before stirring in the bourbon.

Serve the bread pudding at once, directly from the baking dish, and present the whiskey sauce separately in a sauceboat or small bowl.