New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
In New Orleans, bread pudding is what happens to French bread loaf that sat out a day too long. Stale French bread soaks in a custard spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little allspice then gets layered with bourbon-soaked golden raisins. It bakes for about an hour until the top is golden brown and the middle is soft and custardy, then a warm brown sugar bourbon sauce goes over the whole thing.
Some people make it with rum sauce, but in my family, we always used whiskey (and I would get caught sneaking spoonfuls of the sweet sauce from the stove). It’s also even better made ahead: soak it in the refrigerator overnight, bake it the next day, and make the sauce while it’s in the oven.
Lagniappe: Bread Pudding from 1916
Lagniappe: LAN-yap – a little something extra
Here’s the bread pudding, or pouding de pain, from the 1916 Picayune Creole Cook Book. The ingredient list is short: stale bread, eggs, milk, raisins, sugar, and vanilla. It even says you can use stale cake instead of bread and cut back on the sugar. I’ve done versions like this with stale king cake and donuts—a must try.
Old cookbooks like this one read more like a formula than a recipe. They give you the bones and expect you to take liberties, season it to your own taste, and use whatever you have on hand. The sauce is a good example. This recipe says to serve it with hard sauce (butter and sugar creamed together), cream sauce, brandy sauce, or lemon sauce, and elsewhere in the book, the strawberry sauce and the Madeira sabayon say they go with bread pudding too. A whiskey sauce would have fit right in.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Stale French bread. New Orleans French bread has a thin, crackly crust and a light, airy middle. It’s soft and flakey that first day, but it goes stale fast, and that airy crumb soaks up custard like a sponge without turning dense or gummy. Leidenheimer is the fan favorite, but any grocery store French loaf works fine. A dense baguette isn’t the same. If your bread is still fresh, the recipe card notes show how to dry it in the oven.
- Golden raisins. Also called white raisins. They’re plumper and milder than dark raisins, but dark raisins work too. Leave them out if raisins aren’t your thing.
- Bourbon or whiskey. I use a good drinking bourbon, but any whiskey you’d be happy to sip works. Just know all the alcohol doesn’t cook out. The custard bakes for about an hour, which burns off some of it, but the sauce bourbon goes in off the heat, so most of that stays. If you’re serving kids or anyone avoiding alcohol, add the raisins in plain and swap the bourbon in the custard and sauce for apple juice or a little extra vanilla.
- Whole milk and heavy cream. Don’t swap in low-fat milk. The fat is what gives you a silky custard.
- Eggs and extra yolks. The extra yolks make the custard richer and help it set into something you can slice. I’ve tested with 2 and 3 extra egg yolks and decided that 3 yolks gave a better custard texture.
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make New Orleans Bread Pudding
- Soak the golden raisins in bourbon until they’re plump.
- Slowly whisk the warm milk and cream into the eggs and sugar until the custard is smooth.
- Top the raisin layer with the rest of the soaked bread, making sure every piece is wet.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and the center barely jiggles.
- Whisk the sauce until smooth, then simmer until it thickens.
- Let the bread pudding cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then pour the warm sauce over the top
Lauren’s Tips
- Warm the milk, don’t boil it. Aim for 100 to 110°F, warm to the touch but not hot. Milk that’s too hot will scramble the eggs as soon as you whisk it in.
- Give it the full soak. An hour in the refrigerator is the minimum, and overnight is even better, since the custard has time to work its way into the center of every cube. If you’re short on time, 30 minutes at room temperature will do.
- Let a cold dish warm up first. If it soaked in the refrigerator, let it sit on the counter while the oven preheats. A cold glass or ceramic dish can crack from the sudden temperature change.
- Want a boozier sauce? Save the raisin soaking liquid and stir it into the sauce at the end instead of pouring it over the bread. I’m not judging.
Leave a comment if you made this recipe!
New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Ingredients
Bourbon-Soaked Raisins
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup bourbon or whiskey (optional)
Bread Pudding
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
- 18 ounces stale French bread (about 1 ½ loaves)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 4 large eggs
- 3 large egg yolks
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey (optional)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- pinch kosher salt
Bourbon Sauce
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch kosher salt
- ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey (optional)
Instructions
- PLUMP: Soak raisins in bourbon, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.½ cup golden raisins, ½ cup bourbon or whiskey
- PREP: Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. Warm milk and cream to 100 to 110°F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter.3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 18 ounces stale French bread, 2 cups whole milk, 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- WHISK: In a large bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk mixture and butter. Add bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt, and mix well.4 large eggs, 3 large egg yolks, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice, pinch kosher salt
- SOAK: Gently fold bread into custard until all bread is wet. Pour half of bread mixture into the baking dish and scatter raisins over the top. Pour in any remaining soaking liquid, or save it for the sauce. Top with remaining bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight, or soak at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- BAKE: Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Let a refrigerated dish sit at room temperature while the oven heats, since a cold dish can crack. Bake uncovered for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the center barely jiggles.
- SIMMER: While the pudding bakes, melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in brown sugar; it will look like wet sand. Slowly whisk in cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon and any saved raisin soaking liquid.½ cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup heavy cream, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, Pinch kosher salt, ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey
- FINISH: Let bread pudding cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then pour sauce over the top.
- SERVE: Slice and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream if you like.
Notes
- If you only have fresh bread: Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and spread them on a wire rack set on a baking sheet. Bake on the center rack at 250°F for about 10 minutes, or until dry.
- Make-ahead: Assemble it, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Let the dish sit at room temperature while the oven preheats, then bake as directed. For the sauce, make and cool completely, then refrigerate for up to 2 days. Rewarm on the stove before serving.
- Storage: Cover leftover bread pudding and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days. Store leftover sauce separately.
- Reheating: Rewarm individual pieces in the microwave, or cover the dish with foil and warm it in a 325°F oven. Rewarm the sauce on the stove.
- Family-friendly: Leave out the bourbon in all three components. In the pudding and the sauce, replace it with an equal amount of apple juice or add an extra ½ teaspoon vanilla extract to each.
Equipment
- 9 x 13-inch baking dish
- 2-quart saucepan
- Large bowl
- instant read thermometer optional
Nutrition
Meet Lauren
I’m the blogger, recipe developer, food photographer, and otherwise food obsessed gal behind Lauren From Scratch. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in South Louisiana most of my life. Growing up around Cajun country has instilled a love of food that runs deep in my bones. I am passionate about food and teaching you how to make mouth-watering Louisiana inspired dishes in your own kitchen — and most recently, on Food Network’s 100 Cooks!
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