mothers day dessert

Heating the sugar

My assistant breaking the Praline

Ingredients

Ready for the oven

All done!

For mother's day brunch (which i will blog in its entirety later this week) i wanted to make a unique desert - something my mother would really like. Initially i was thinking of making mini-strawberry short cakes, or something with rhubarb, but really, one of my mother's favorite desserts is Bread pudding. At the mono-cliffs inn she always orders it for desert - theirs comes with a burbon sauce.

There are tons of recipes for bread pudding - and i was trolling the internet looking for one that sounded good - and would be easy to make in advance. I found a lot of different recipes online - but there was one in particular on epicurious that really appealed to me. It had maple syrup.

Vermont Bread Pudding

Serve as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or on its own as a wonderful brunch dish.
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings


Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups sugar
1 cup walnuts, toasted,
choppedBread pudding
8 large eggs
1 quart whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 cup maple syrup, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1-pound loaf brioche or egg bread, torn into bite-size pieces
Vanilla ice cream

For praline:
Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber color, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 7 minutes.
Stir in nuts.
Quickly spread nuts on prepared sheet.
Cool.
Chop praline into small pieces. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

For bread pudding:
Whisk eggs, cream, sugar, 1 cup maple syrup, and vanilla in large bowl to blend.
Add brioche; stir to coat.
Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
Transfer bread mixture to prepared dish. Bake until puffed and golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool slightly.
Cut into 6 to 8 pieces.
Place 1 piece pudding on each plate.
Place scoop of ice cream atop pudding, drizzle with maple syrup, sprinkle with praline, and serve.