Darien Cooks | written by: CAROLYN EDDIE
I have just had the pleasure of spending a few days in New Orleans, playing bridge in a national tournament. A slightly surreal experience—cerebral and hedonistic. Totally my kind of trip!
New Orleans is fabulous, with its French architecture, balconies, chandeliers, Interview with a Vampire vibe, incredible music everywhere and amazing food scene!
On my first visit there, I ate at Muriel’s on Jackson Square. I was so excited to go back and see if the food was as good as I remembered.
If anything, the whole experience was even better. However, the pièce de résistance was still the bread pudding or Pain Perdue.
Muriel’s very kindly shares all their recipes online. However, this one starts with 40 eggs and three and a half loaves of French bread. I have scaled down their version, and replaced the French bread with Brioche.
Trader Joe’s does a wonderful sliced brioche, but feel free to use whatever is on hand. You can also try making candied pecans, but I love the ones from Trader Joe’s for this too.
I usually make a double portion of sauce, as there is no such thing as too much sauce! / /
photo courtesy: Carolyn Eddie from Muriel’s on Jackson Square
Ingredients
For the Pudding
- 4 cups of heavy cream
- 8 ounces white chocolate
- 8 eggs
- Splash of vanilla
- ¹⁄₃ cup sugar
- About half a loaf of Brioche or Challah
For the Sauce
- 1 Stick of butter
- 6 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Just a little over ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- Bourbon or rum!
- For the Candied Pecans
- 1 cup pecans
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- Add the cream to a pan and heat until it just reaches boiling point (technicaly speaking, we call this scalding the cream).
- Remove from heat and add the white chocolate to the hot cream and leave to melt for five minutes. Then stir well to combine the chocolate with the cream.
- In a separate large bowl or jug, mix eggs, sugar and vanilla.
- Add the hot cream to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
- Slice the brioche into thick slices and cut into small triangles.
- Layer Brioche in a medium-sized casserole dish, cover with the egg mixture.
- Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, to allow the mixture to soak into the bread
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- You want to bake the bread pudding in a water bath to ensure even cooking of the custard. Find a deep dish that is large enough to fit the casserole and fill it with an inch of hot water.
- Bake until the pudding puffs and is just set in the middle, around 45 minutes.
- To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar, cream and bourbon and bring to the boil. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes until a lovely dark color. The sauce may be made ahead and reheated.
- To make the candied pecans, toss pecan pieces in egg white and sugar until coated. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until brown and crystalized.
- Dust the bread pudding with confectioners’ sugar, top with chopped pecans and the bourbon caramel sauce and serve with some whipped cream
Serves 4 to 6.
CAROLYN EDDIE is a Darien Resident & Owner, Carolyn’s Absolutely Fabulous Events. For more of her recipes, check out carolynsabsolutelyfabulousevents.com and please remember to tag her on Instagram @carolynsfabfoods.
