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Bourbon Bread Pudding with Berry Sauce
When it comes to cold weather desserts, you’ll be hard pressed to find something cozier and tastier than my Bourbon Bread Pudding with Berry Sauce. Made with stale bread and frozen berries, it’s economical to make and a true delight to eat.
Why I Love This Bread Pudding Recipe
I love capirotada (Mexican bread pudding), and wanted similar flavor profiles, but with a boozy and fruity element. I especially love that these are portion controlled and made in small ramekins. Because if you know me, you know I have no self control when it comes to bread pudding of any type.
These mini bread puddings can be made in ramekins, a large muffin pan, or mini cast iron skillets.
They are a delicious dessert to really impress and can be served any time of year because the berries are frozen. So no matter if it’s summer or winter or anywhere in between you can make this deliciously boozy dessert.
Finally, I absolutely LOVE that this easy recipe gives me a way to use up any stale bread I have laying around. Giving something a new life that would otherwise get tossed is so satisfying! If it so happens that the new life is as a warm, cozy and bourbon-y dessert, well, that’s just the berry sauce on top of the bread pudding.
How to Make
While this recipe for bread pudding might look long, I promise it is super simple and only takes about 20 minutes of active time. Just follow these steps:
Syrup for Soaking
Combine water, cinnamon sticks, and piloncillo in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, creating a syrup. Simmer syrup uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered for 1 hour. Discard cinnamon sticks.
Bake the Mini Bread Puddings
Butter six 10-ounce ramekins, a large muffin pan, or mini cast iron skillets.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together syrup, eggs, milk, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Toss in the bread cubes, and stir gently to evenly coat; let stand a few minutes. Divide among prepared dishes, pressing down slightly to make level.
TIP: If you want, you can assemble the bread puddings up to this point and refrigerate for up to 24 hours prior to baking. Bread pudding makes for an excellent dinner party dessert!
Bake until set in the center and top is golden, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
TIP: If bread browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil to protect it from burning.
Bourbon Drizzle
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, milk, bourbon, and salt, stirring until incorporated and smooth.
Warm Berry Sauce
Combine the berries, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to simmer it until the berries have released all of their liquid, about 5 to 8 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Use a wooden spoon to combine.
How to Serve
To serve, un-mold bread pudding onto plates. Pour bourbon sauce over top of bread pudding and top with warm berry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Not to worry! You can dry out some bread (or croissants) in the oven. Simply cut the bread into cubes and throw them on a sheet pan. Place them in a 350F oven for 15-25 minutes, until the bread feels dried out. It should now be ready to soak up all the yummy, custardy goodness!
I’m a sucker for all berries, so I love using a mixed bag. That said, you can absolutely opt to use just a single type of berry if you prefer. Just note that for certain berries like cranberries you may need to add a few more tablespoons of sugar to get the flavor balanced just right.
Also, while you certainly *can* use fresh berries to make the sauce, I’m of the opinion that you should save the fresh ones for eating fresh. Frozen berries are picked at peak ripeness, so they will have all the sweet berry flavor you could want at a fraction of the price of fresh. They are ideal for cooking into things like this bread pudding sauce.
Absolutely! You can assemble the bread puddings but not bake them, keeping them covered in the refrigerator to soak overnight. Baked bread puddings will also keep, covered in the refrigerator, for up to four days. Baked bread pudding can also be frozen for up to three months.
To reheat the bread pudding, pop them into an oven set to 250 until warmed through.
Both sauces can also be made ahead of time and will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Cornstarch acts as a thickening agent for the berry sauce. If you are avoiding corn, feel free to substitute an equal amount of arrowroot starch (also known as arrowroot flour) instead.
Need more dessert inspiration?
Check out these other delicious recipes:
- Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)
- Homemade Cinnamon Churros with Lemon Cream
- Roasted Berries and Peach Dump Cake
If you tried this recipe for Bourbon Bread Pudding with Mixed Berry Sauce, please let me know how it turned out! You can either tag me on Instagram to show me your creations, or you can comment below.
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Bourbon Bread Pudding with Mixed Berry Sauce
Ingredients
Bourbon Bread Pudding:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, for ramekins
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 ounces piloncillo or 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1 16 ounce day-old French bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Bourbon Sauce:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 stick
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- pinch salt
Mixed Berry Sauce:
- 1 32 ounce bag frozen berries
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
Bourbon Bread Pudding:
- Butter six 10-ounce ramekins, large muffin pan, or mini cast iron skillets
- Combine water, cinnamon sticks, and piloncillo in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, creating a syrup. Simmer syrup uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered for 1 hour. Discard cinnamon sticks.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together syrup, eggs, milk, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Toss in the bread cubes, and stir gently to evenly coat; let stand a few minutes. Divide among prepared dishes, pressing down slightly to make level.
- Bake until set in the center and top is golden, about 40 minutes. If bread browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Remove from oven; let cool slightly.
Bourbon Sauce:
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, milk, bourbon, and salt, stirring until incorporated and smooth.
Mixed Berry Sauce:
- Combine the berries, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to simmer it until the berries have released all of their liquid, about 5 to 8 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Use a wooden spoon to combine.
Assembly:
- To serve, un-mold bread pudding onto plates.
- Pour bourbon sauce over top of bread pudding and top with warm berry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- If you don’t have any day-old bread on hand, bake fresh bread cubes in the oven for about 10 minutes. You can also swap in croissants for an even butterier take. YUM!
- Bread pudding is best served warm, but can be kept refrigerated, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.
Photography by Jenna Sparks
Originally published: October 2018.
2 Comments on “Bourbon Bread Pudding with Berry Sauce”
Hi Yvette, have you ever made this is one large pan instead of ramekins? I am wondering what the cooking time would be. I have been baking this the past 2 years for Christmas, and this year I have 8 to feed instead of 4!
What a beautiful story, the pictures are spectacular, makes a person want to walk thru those beautiful fields.The bourbon bread pudding looks so yummy, yummy. Great dessert. Have to make it really soon.