Irish Bread Pudding with Caramel Whiskey Sauce

Do you stay true to your holiday traditions?  In our house, our St. Patrick’s Day tradition is Irish Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce.  We might play with the menu somewhat, a new variation on a corned beef reuben, perhaps an alternative like salmon.  But never the dessert.  For years now, I’m thinking seven, we’ve made this recipe to celebrate St. Pat’s.  We may have even made it one time on another occasion, but after that we decided that if it were to be special we could only do it on a special day.  And thus, our tradition was born.

Another tradition was that I’d need to attempt to make the sauce at least twice before I’d get it to work.  The recipe is fairly straightforward , as you’ll see below.  And yet, every year I’d make one wrong step and end up with a pan of solid, crystallized sugar.  And part of my tradition was to get red in the face and loudly utter a string of words to embarrass any Irishman within earshot.  But for whatever reason, this year I got it right.  I took it slow, and I was relaxed, and in a single try I made the best batch of sauce that I ever have.  It was a delight, and everyone in the house raved at how wonderful it was.  St. Pat’s only comes once a year, and with it comes this fantastic bread pudding.  Give it a try!

Ingredients:

Bread Pudding

• 1/4  cup  light butter, melted
• 1  (10-ounce) French bread baguette, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• 1/2  cup  raisins
• 1/4  cup  Irish whiskey (Note: Substitute 1/4 cup apple juice for the Irish whiskey, if desired.)
• 1 3/4  cups  1% low-fat milk
• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  tablespoon  vanilla extract
• 1  (12-ounce) can evaporated skim milk
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray
• 1  tablespoon  sugar
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

Caramel Whiskey Sauce

• 1 1/2  cups  sugar
• 2/3  cup  water
• 1/4  cup  light butter
• 2  ounces  1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel) (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/4  cup  Irish whiskey (Note: Substitute 1 tablespoon imitation rum extract and 3 tablespoons water for the Irish whiskey, if desired.)
• 1/4  cup  1% low-fat milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Brush melted butter on one side of French bread slices, and place bread, buttered sides up, on a baking sheet. Bake bread at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes, and set aside.

Combine raisins and whiskey in a small bowl; cover and let stand 10 minutes or until soft (do not drain).

Combine 1% milk and next 4 ingredients (1% milk through eggs) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add bread cubes and raisin mixture, pressing gently to moisten; let stand 15 minutes. Spoon bread mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over pudding. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until set.

For sauce, combine sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Cook an additional 15 minutes or until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat. Carefully add butter and cream cheese, stirring constantly with a whisk (mixture will be hot and bubble vigorously). Cool slightly, and stir in whiskey and milk.

 Serve bread pudding warm with Caramel-Whiskey Sauce.