Famous Dave's Bread Pudding with Plantation Praline Sauce
INGREDIENTS
- Unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 loaf (1 1/2 pounds) cinnamon egg bread
- 2/3 cup golden raisins
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup vanilla extract
- 8 Eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Whipped cream and ice cream
- Plantation praline sauce:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (cube 1/2 cup) (divided)
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 pounds light brown sugar (about 3 1/4 cups packed)
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 Cups sour cream
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
- Coat bottom and sides of 13-by-9-inch baking pan heavily with the butter.
- Tear bread into 1-inch pieces. Mix with raisins in bowl. Lay bread mixture evenly in prepared dish, turning crust side down, as this tends to burn easily.
- In bowl, whisk sugar, milk, whipping cream, vanilla, eggs and cinnamon until blended. Pour over bread mixture.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place baking dish in larger 4-inch deep baking pan. Add water to reach halfway up side of dish. Bake in preheated oven 1 hour.
- Remove from water bath. Let stand 20 minutes.
- Cut pudding into 9 portions and put into large dessert bowls. Add a scoop of ice cream next to the pudding, then spoon 3 to 4 ounces of warm praline sauce over the pudding and the ice cream. Top with whipped cream if desired. Makes 9 very large servings.
- Plantation praline sauce:
- To make this sauce, it is very important to follow the directions carefully and to use a candy thermometer.
- In large saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the butter until melted. Add pecans and mix well. Bring to a boil.
- Cook until pecans begin to change color. Mixture will foam up.
- Add remaining 1/2 cup cubed butter and mix well. This will cool pecan mixture and stop the cooking process. Remove from heat.
- Combine brown sugar, whipping cream and cinnamon in a saucepan and mix well.
- Cook over low heat until blended, stirring constantly. Increase heat and cook until mixture comes to 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. Stir in pecan mixture. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well.
- Remove from heat. Makes 4 cups.
- Servings at the restaurant are very large. For at home use, the pudding could be cut into 18 portions and the sauce could be halved