Irish Berry Bread & Butter Pudding

Bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food/dessert … the Irish make it even better by buttering up the bread before making the pudding. I couldn’t help but add some whiskey to it, and then make a whiskey sauce for the top. Oh my gosh … when I tasted it, I was in total bread pudding heaven. I couldn’t believe how buttery and rich and lovely the pudding tasted. There’s not that much butter! A little bit of good Irish butter goes a long way, my friends.

Why bread pudding? Because it’s a lovely comforting dessert. Because it’s Irish. Because my mother made bread pudding for us when we were young and I’ve always loved it. Because the Irish make bread pudding!

But also because lately I’ve been making a LOT of buttery sourdough crescent rolls for my son. He can eat 12 of them in one meal, 11 with tuna and then one at the end, just plain. Every time I make the dough, I split it into three pieces. I bake up one batch of 12 crescent rolls, then shape the other two into rounds, cover them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. This way, we can have 3 batches of fresh rolls per batch of dough. It works out rather well, and pretty much all of the time the crescent rolls get eaten almost immediately. But one time, when I was baking up the rolls, I left them in the oven just a bit too long. They were still good fresh, but as they aged, they got a little hard. Nobody would eat them. I almost threw them away, but something told me to throw them in a bag and put them in the freezer.

Those crescent rolls weighed on me … I wanted to put those beauties to good use! I decided I should use them to make bread pudding for St. Patrick’s Day. I wanted to know how the Irish make their bread pudding, so I went searching. There were lots of recipes CLAIMING to be Irish, but all they did was toss in some Irish whiskey and call it Irish. That wasn’t going to cut it for me. I wanted to know for sure how the Irish make bread pudding … and then I found Gemma’s recipe and I was relieved to see a REAL Irish woman making bread pudding just like her mother made it for her. I wanted to make it, just like she did (well, okay, not really exactly like she did … I have to admit, perhaps it’s the American in me, but I wanted to add some whiskey). BUT I didn’t have any raisins on hand. Oh dear … what to do now? I’m NOT running to the store to get raisins.

So then, I was wondering in place of raisins would the Irish would use fruit in their bread pudding? I really like fruit in bread pudding … and I have a bunch of berries in my freezer. I went searching and I was so pleased to discover an Irish Bread and Butter Pudding recipe including berries on Ireland AM. I found further confirmation confirming that foraging berries is another one of the cornerstones of Irish eating.

But did I follow either of their recipes? Yes, I did, but in my own way, with my own twist. I took bits and pieces of both of the recipes, used a bit of my own bread pudding recipe and then added a little whiskey (because whiskey just makes baked goods taste better), and then made a whiskey berry sauce for the top. I did use Irish butter (my new love!), but didn’t use Irish whiskey. If you have Irish whiskey on hand, go for it. I used my old pal Jack Daniels. (Because we bought a gargantuan bottle of JD at Costco … and I’m not going out and buying more whiskey just to make this dang pudding! I’m supposed to be using up things, not buying more stuff!)

When I tasted my pudding, I was a little amazed at how buttery it tasted. That little bit of butter made it … SO … much … better. I think toasting the bread and letting the butter soak into it is really the trick. If you just pour butter over the top or add it to the custard, it’s not the same. Trust me on this one. I’ve made many a bread pudding in my time.

To be honest, I gave most of my Irish bread pudding away to friends. I need to stick to my heart healthy diet and while this isn’t HORRIBLE for my heart, it feels like it’s not really supporting my health goals, so I will enjoy just ate a bit of it today and save the little bit I have left for another decadent moment.

The little bit that I ate totally filled me up! I don’t think I need dinner tonight. My tum is full and happy. Happy St Patty’s Day to all of you, my dear foodie friends.

Irish Berry Bread & Butter Pudding

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
• Yield: 9 - 16 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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For the pudding:

• About 1 – 2 Tablespoon Irish butter, softened
• Several slices of leftover bread – yielding about 5 cups of cubed bread
• 2 cups berries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 cups low fat milk
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Irish whiskey (or other whiskey)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the berry whiskey sauce:

• 1/2 cup berries
• 1 – 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup Irish whiskey (or other whiskey)
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh basil leaves (or a sprig of fresh rosemary) – optional

For thickening:

• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon water

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the butter over the slices of bread, then toast them until light brown. Let cool slightly, then cut into cubes. Measure out 5 cups of bread and pour them into a large mixing bowl. Add the berries to the bowl.
2. Put the milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, whiskey, cinnamon and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the bread cubes and toss gently to mix. Let sit for about 15 minutes, stirring gently once or twice to make sure all the bread gets a nice soaking.
3. Butter a 9x9x2 inch square pan (or casserole dish) generously with Irish butter, then pour in the pudding mixture, spreading it out into an even layer. If you want to avoid over-browning, cover the pudding with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 30 – 40 minutes or until the pudding is set in the middle.
4. While the pudding is baking, make the sauce. Stir together all the sauce ingredients except the thickening agent, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes or until the berries have released their juices and it smells nice and fragrant. Remove any herbs from the syrup, then stir together the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stirring constantly, slowly add cornstarch mixture, a bit at a time, until the sauce is thickened to your liking.
5. Serve the warm pudding with the warm berry sauce drizzled over. You can also top with whipped cream or ice cream as well, if you like. Enjoy!

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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Nutrition analysis is for 16 servings