Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
A custard-soaked dessert that transforms day-old bread into something luxurious, finished with a silky warm sauce spiked with bourbon.
The secret to good bread pudding lives in choosing the right bread and letting it age properly. A sturdy, slightly sweet bread like brioche or challah works better than soft sandwich bread, which turns to mush rather than absorbing custard evenly. After a full day sitting out on your counter, the bread firms up and develops a drier crumb structure that actually drinks in the egg mixture without falling apart. When you cube it and pour the custard over, you’re looking for bread that holds its shape even as it soaks—this is the texture difference that separates a refined dessert from bread soup.
The baking process transforms these separate elements into something cohesive. As the pudding sits in a water bath in the oven, the custard slowly sets from the outside in, while the interior stays creamy. You’ll know it’s done when the center still jiggles slightly when you shake the pan—it keeps cooking as it cools and firms up to exactly the right spoon-tender texture. The bourbon sauce, made quickly on the stovetop with butter, brown sugar, and cream, provides the final contrast: warm, boozy, slightly caramel-forward.
Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Serves 8 · Prep 20 · Cook 45
-
Place bread cubes in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish and let them sit while you prepare the custard; they should feel slightly firm and resist compression when you press them.
-
Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until the mixture is smooth and no streaks of egg white remain.
-
Pour the custard evenly over the bread cubes and let sit for 10 minutes, gently pressing down with a spatula once or twice so the bread absorbs liquid evenly—it should feel saturated but not swimming in liquid.
-
Heat your oven to 350°F and place a 9-by-13-inch baking pan on the oven rack; pour hot water into this pan until it’s halfway full to create a water bath.
-
Carefully set the bread pudding dish into the water bath and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges are set and the center jiggles only slightly when you shake the pan.
-
Remove the pudding from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes while you make the sauce.
-
For the sauce, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then add brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture smells caramel-like, about 2 minutes.
-
Remove from heat and carefully pour in bourbon, stirring constantly—it will bubble briefly.
-
Return the pan to low heat and add cream, stirring until the sauce is smooth and warm, about 1 minute; taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
-
Spoon the warm sauce over each serving of bread pudding just before eating.
