Banana Foster Brioche Bread Pudding

Happy almost Mardi Gras friends, have I ever got a recipe for you in this Banana Foster Brioche Bread Pudding. While it’s based on a bon appetit recipe, I have made some serious modifications to this Banana Foster Brioche Bread Pudding to make it more user friendly, as well as to make it fit in the pan. I have no clue how the original recipe ever fit this in an 8×8. It’s simply impossible, at least in my house! Maybe the pan they used was a foot deep? And then I don’t know how you’d eat a whole piece of this Banana Foster Brioche Bread Pudding at all, because it’s SUPER rich, which is also probably why it remains one of the best desserts I’ve ever had and on my now and then list. When you cook as often as I do, there aren’t that many dishes that have you coming back, again and again. It’s always onto the next new thing, you know? But this Banana Foster Brioche Bread Pudding is so special, and so satisfying that I remember it each year when the Crawfish Boil rolls around, it’s Mari Gras, or a Cajun emergency pops up, like a very … Continue reading

Cranberry Butternut Squash Bread Pudding

This Cranberry Butternut Squash Bread Pudding is a wonderful make-ahead Winter brunch dish. It’s great sweet or savory and I like it best served as breakfast, not dessert. In fact, this started as a very savory butternut squash bread pudding I made as a side years ago for Thanksgiving. Though it was good, it was too heavy for a Thanksgiving side. There was lots leftover and later that night, I caught my friend Anna digging it out of the fridge for a midnight snack. She had reheated it and was pouring maple syrup on it. We definitely agreed that it was better on its own than as a side. The next morning we centered the whole brunch around our late night discovery. Over time, it’s evolved. This version is a little on the sweet side to counter the very tart cranberries. Whenever you serve it, I know you’ll like it, and it doesn’t hurt that Cranberry Butternut Squash Bread Pudding is really beautiful on the plate. 8 oz cranberries 4 cups squash; peeled and diced 2 cups milk 4 eggs; separated ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup maple syrup cinnamon nutmeg 1 tablespoon molasses vanilla 1 loaf baguette butter maple syrup … Continue reading