{TWD} Bourbon Bread Pudding

In the past couple of years of blogging about baked goods, I've learned a few things about bread pudding. One, people either love it or despise it. Two, most people fall in the "despise it" camp. It's either too eggy, or too soggy, or both. Three, the people who despise bread pudding are pretty much never going to change their opinion to a positive one.

And here's a fourth thing I've learned: it nearly impossible to photograph bread pudding so that it looks appetizing, even to those who do like it, but especially to those who don't.

We like bread pudding, a lot actually, so I was happy to make this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Bourbon Bread Pudding. When I was finished, it didn't look very pretty - bread puddings are never going to win any beauty contests. Because I was seriously short on daylight, and it was time for us to eat the bread pudding, I didn't garnish or decorate before snapping the picture. It might have helped the looks of the pudding but I doubt it would have won over any hearts and minds to the pro-bread pudding camp.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Sharon of the blog Simply Southern chose the bread pudding this week, and you can click over to her blog post to find the recipe.

- I made a quarter recipe in two individual ramekins. The ingredients divided quite easily except for the eggs - I needed 1 egg + 1 yolk. I solved the problem by using a huge duck egg (75 grams) from my farm box. Duck eggs tend to have very large yolks in relation to the amount of egg white, so I figured it would be perfect.

- My fridge had a perfect-in-size (2 ounce) piece of slightly old Milk Loaf. I further "staled" it in the oven, following Dorie's instructions. while the bread is getting stale and dry in the oven, it's quick business to make the custard, Then the custard is poured over the staled bread and the assembled puddings rest on the counter for an hour before baking, to allow the bread to soak up the liquid. That seemed like a very long time for my puddings; the bread got very soft as it soaked.

- There was only 1 teaspoon of bourbon in my quarter recipe. I gave the custard a tiny taste as I was mixing it up, and the bourbon was barely detectable, so I took a little chance and doubled the amount of bourbon.

the verdict:

We ate these puddings warm from the oven, and they were a welcome finish to a winter meal. They were not, however, my favorite bread pudding. The cubes of milk loaf nearly dissolved in the soaking and baking process, so the puddings turned out a little spongy. I prefer a more pronounced difference between the bread and the custard. If I were to use milk loaf again, I'd soak for a much shorter time before baking the pudding.

The flavor of the bread puddings was a bit bland. The bourbon was very subtle, even though I'd doubled the amount. Maybe tripling it would be a better idea? As it was, the stongest flavor was the cinnamon. I missed the texture and sweetness of dried fruit, which is not included in this recipe.