Briggs Family Bread Pudding

We have this dessert at all our family gatherings. The recipe has evolved over the last couple of generations, and the current iteration is hands-down the best bread pudding I have ever tasted. At the bottom of the recipe I have listed substitutions in case you want to branch out and try blackberry or chocolate bread pudding. Serve it with a high-quality vanilla ice cream.

Servings

8-12

Prep time

90 min

Ingredients

1 cup dark rum
1 cup raisins
6 croissants, preferably stale
6 cups whole milk
6 eggs
1 8-ounce stick of butter, divided
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon combined

Preparation

Soak raisins in dark rum overnight. Break croissants into small bits and let sit out overnight to get stale.

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a large skillet and set aside.

Place croissant pieces into the skillet. Strain the raisins from the rum, and set aside the rum. Push raisins and dots of butter (a half-stick’s worth) into the croissant pieces, making sure no raisins are showing and that crust edges are tucked in to avoid burning during cooking.

Beat eggs in a small bowl and set aside. Scald milk in a pot, then stir in the eggs. Add sugar and vanilla. Pour mixture over bread in pan.

In a small saucepan, reduce the rum until it’s syrupy, then drizzle over bread pudding mixture. Top with dots of butter (a half-stick’s worth) and sifted cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake for one hour.

Blackberry Bread Pudding

Substitute 1 cup of blackberries for raisins and rum.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Substitute ¼ cup Hershey's Chocolate syrup for raisins and rum.

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