....Matt loves bread pudding so he was happy to hear the next Ad Hoc recipe I was making was banana bread pudding. It was a good use for the brioche that was leftover from the Ad Hoc Grilled Cheese.
This is a pretty decadent bread pudding because not only is it full of some really amazing tasting custard (it was so good I was tempted to just throw it in my ice cream maker & eat it plain) and brioche but after you cook it you fry the slices in butter! The book suggests topping it with berries, chocolate or mascarpone, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to open a jar of our Black Forest Preserves. The dark chocolate & cherries were perfect with the rich custards & bananas.
This was a pretty simple recipe as far as the Ad Hoc recipes go. You slice the brioche & then toast the slices to golden brown in the broiler. The custard is a very basic custard; eggs, cream, sugar & vanilla. Your baking dish gets a thin layer of custard then a layer of the brioche slices that have been soaked briefly in the custard. Then on top of that you add a layer of bananas that have been sliced in half both directions. Another layer of soaked brioche goes on top of that. Then the remaining custard is poured over the top. Let it sit for 30 minutes so the bread can soak up the custard.
Topped with a layer of parchment paper & some tin foil, the pudding gets cooked for an hour at 300 F in a water bath. After cooling still covered you refrigerate it for at least 6 hours. Then cut into slices which get fried in butter until water & brown.
This is where we ran into problems. That layer of sliced banana kept the pudding from sticking together very well. The end pieces where the bread touched bread worked better. This made it really hard to fry it up. It still tasted fabulous though. I would definitely do this again but I'd chop the banana & brioche into smaller pieces & mix them all together. I think this would make the whole thing easier to cut.
This was a pretty simple recipe as far as the Ad Hoc recipes go. You slice the brioche & then toast the slices to golden brown in the broiler. The custard is a very basic custard; eggs, cream, sugar & vanilla. Your baking dish gets a thin layer of custard then a layer of the brioche slices that have been soaked briefly in the custard. Then on top of that you add a layer of bananas that have been sliced in half both directions. Another layer of soaked brioche goes on top of that. Then the remaining custard is poured over the top. Let it sit for 30 minutes so the bread can soak up the custard.
Topped with a layer of parchment paper & some tin foil, the pudding gets cooked for an hour at 300 F in a water bath. After cooling still covered you refrigerate it for at least 6 hours. Then cut into slices which get fried in butter until water & brown.
This is where we ran into problems. That layer of sliced banana kept the pudding from sticking together very well. The end pieces where the bread touched bread worked better. This made it really hard to fry it up. It still tasted fabulous though. I would definitely do this again but I'd chop the banana & brioche into smaller pieces & mix them all together. I think this would make the whole thing easier to cut.
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© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski
Holy cow, does that look good!
ReplyDeleteI seriously can't even look at this, it makes me so hungry for bread pudding! If I can get my hands on some cherries I am definitely making the black forest preserves. Yum!
ReplyDeletenow that's how it should be done!
ReplyDeleteWhat are you doing to me? I thought the Brioche Grilled Cheese was the ultimate but Brioche bread pudding with custard and then fried is delicious madness!
ReplyDeleteI would have no problem hiding this and eating the whole thing myself. Oh my goodness.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sure that bread pudding couldn't get any better...but I think it just did. THis looks insane!
ReplyDeleteAnd there is drool.
ReplyDeleteYou probably had me at "Brioche" -- but the frying! Now, that's downright decadent. I love it.
banana bread? meh. banana bread pudding? yeah, i'd like that. banana bread pudding with those awesome black forest preserves? now we're talking! i think this is outstanding.
ReplyDeletewow this looks good - its a parallel universe but I like the view from here for sure...
ReplyDeleteok seriously....Andy and I are coming over! I need to try that bread pudding!
ReplyDeleteThat looks reeeeally good. Would be perfect with my banana chocolate chip bread bars from last week!
ReplyDeleteI've made many bread pudding but never one that was fried and this sounds like an excellent step.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to get this cookbook!
My husband loves bread pudding. I'm sure this is one he'd really like.
ReplyDeleteI love bread and butter pudding, but I do kind of think that frying it in butter is gilding the lily a bit! On the other hand, French toast is wonderful, so maybe...
ReplyDeleteI make something like but without the baking step: I cut up a banana into pretty small pieces and even mush up some bits. Tear bread into small 1/2" size bits. Mix bread, custard, banana. After bread has soaked up the custard, pour into a frying pan, flatten out and fry like a pancake. Goes great with maple syrup and cinnamon too!
ReplyDelete