Dairy Free Bourbon Bread Pudding: A Retrospective
Brunch may defined as a meal between breakfast and lunch, but we all know that what it really means is decadence, slow eating with people you like, and maybe a little booze for some. What if you could have all of that embodied in one dish? And it's dairy free?
I present to you: the dairy free, decadent, comforting, creamy, and slightly boozy (but that's optional) bourbon bread pudding.
It may be retro, but your perspective will be blown by how delicious this is. This paper aims to demonstrate how Bourbon Bread Pudding is quite easily adapted to be dairy free, while maintaining the concurrent validity with any dairy original.
Method
Source:
Serious Eats Bourbon Bread Pudding:
https://www.seriouseats.com/bourbon-bread-pudding-recipe
Original citation: The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook which can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Back-Day-Bakery-Cookbook/dp/1579654584/, or maybe your local bookstore!
Note: I halved this recipe. No regrets this time, it already made a lot, and portions may seem small for a meal but they are quite filling.
Materials and Dairy-Free Substitutes:
1. Bread: I used a challah. I happened to have baked and frozen this half a loaf, which I defrosted for an hour before beginning to bake. However, most challah recipes should be dairy free. Challah is traditionally a bread dough enriched with eggs, honey, and oil. If I'm buying a commercially baked challah, I love the one from Trader Joe's. Long story short, check your ingredients, but most should be dairy free.
2. Half-and-half substitution: Hypothesizing that the half-and-half in this recipe was used in place of regular milk for extra creaminess, I used a mixture of 3 parts almond milk to 1 part creamer. Another option would be to use a regular plant-based milk (bonus points for using a creamier option, like cashew or coconut), and add in 1 T of margarine per cup. I used the same ratio for making the heavy cream substitute in the glaze.
Procedures:
1. Cut up your bread and place in baking dish.
2. Mix your custard ingredients, which is similar to french toast but amped up.
3. Pour the mixture over the bread. The author of the blog notes that to improve upon the recipe, you can let it "soak" for about an hour before baking, so that is what I did.
4. Bake! You start with a foil cover then remove it for extra time to let the bread at the top poking out get a little crispy. Since I was making a smaller dish, I reduced the baking time to 40 minutes with the foil on, and 10 minutes without.
5. Make the glaze. I was a little ambitious and made the full recipe. It made a lot, way more than we needed for a half recipe and then some. No regrets, it's going to taste good on almost everything. You just need to whisk your ingredients together. I preferred to pour the glaze over just before eating, and that way each individual can control how much they have (and whether they have any at all). However, I'm sure it's also delicious if it's poured on while warm and let it soak into the bread pudding, as suggested by the recipe authors.
Results:
One very happy looking reviewer commented, "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."
And went for a second slice.
Discussion:
Actions speak louder than words, I guess?
So make yourself and your loved ones this Bourbon Bread Pudding. I don't think you'll have any regrets.
Bread pudding in history:
Bread pudding actually dates back to the 11th century (according to Wikipedia), so it's very retro! Many cultures have a version of this recipe. It's also budget-friendly because it was designed to use up stale bread. Eco-friendly too, with less food waste (a top priority priority amid Viking invasions).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_pudding