Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Makes about 12 servings

If you have to choose just one thing to make in this cookbook, this is it. I can’t believe I’m even giving y’all this recipe! I have kept it a secret in my back pocket for many years, not even sharing it with my own family. I was cooking for a rodeo in Biloxi, Mississippi, when we went to a restaurant that had the best bread pudding I’d ever eaten. I called the chef out to try to get the recipe. Turned out he was a sourdough biscuit fan, so I tried to swap recipes with him, but he must have been a horse trader from way back, because he didn’t give in. It took me years to re-create it, and I think I like it even better than his. My version has a cinnamon French-toast flavor with a dense consistency. Typically bread pudding is made with old bread, but I use hamburger buns, which give it a fresher, lighter taste.

• 2 cups milk
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, or more to taste
• 10 regular-sized hamburger buns
• Whiskey Cream Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8-x-11-inch baking pan with a rack in the middle.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Slowly whisk in the butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. If you like the flavor of nutmeg, you can add a few more shakes.

3. Tear a bun into approximately 1-inch pieces and add to the wet mixture. Repeat, using half of the buns.

4. Mash the buns with a spoon into the wet mixture until moistened. Tear the remaining buns and add to the mixture. Mash until combined, but don’t mash them so much that the mixture turns to mush. The bread should be completely moistened with some bun pieces still retaining most of their shape. Add more cinnamon or nutmeg, if desired. Scrape the mixture into the baking pan.

5. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the pudding is sponge-like and springs back when touched in the middle. Feel free to make a judgment call on the baking time. You don’t want it to bake completely through like a cake; remember it’s bread pudding. You can err on the side of not cooking the pudding quite as long, because it will set up a little more after it cools.

6. Drizzle or drench with Whiskey Cream Sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Whiskey Cream Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 6 minutes

Makes about 3 cups

The bread pudding is really just an excuse to taste this. In fact some of you may want to scratch the pudding and head straight for the sauce! My friend Chris Morton calls it “Goes Over Sauce” ’cause it will go over nearly anything and make it good. It is also great in your coffee the next morning.

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ¼ to ½ cup whiskey

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Serve warm.

Tip: If you like the whiskey taste, do not bring the sauce to a boil. Instead, simply allow the mixture to warm through and serve.