Recipe - French Bread Pudding With Clear Rum Sauce

1 cup Sugar
8 tablespoon (1 stick) butter, softened
5 Eggs, beaten
1 pt (2 cups) heavy cream
Dash of cinnamon
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
One fourth cup Raisins
12 Slices, each 1 inch thick,
fresh or stale French
bread
Clear Rum Sauce
1 cup Sugar
2 One fourth cup Water
1 Cinnamon stick or
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
One half teaspoon Cornstarch
1 tablespoon Light or dark rum

Originally devised as a way to use leftover stale French bread, bread
pudding has become one of the most popular classic New Orleans desserts.
Every cook has his own secret recipe. Commander's version is served hot
from the oven with a thin rum sauce. If you have any left over, try the
recipe for bread pudding souffle that follows.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter. Add eggs, cream,
cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins, mixing well. Pour into a 9inch square pan
l Three fourths inches deep.

3. Arrange bread slices flat in the egg mixture and let stand for 5 minutes
to soak up some of the liquid. Turn bread over and let stand for 10 minutes
longer. Then push bread down so that most of it is covered by the egg
mixture. Do not break the bread.

4. Set pan in a larger pan filled with water to One half inch from top. Cover
with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. uncovering pudding for the
last 10 minutes to brown the top. When done. the custard should still be
soft, not firm.

5. To make the sauce: In a mediumsize saucepan combine sugar, 2 cups
water, cinnamon, and butter and bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch blended
with remaining One fourth cup water and simmer. stirring, until sauce is clear.
Remove from heat and add rum. Sauce will be thin.

6. To serve: Spoon the pudding onto dessert plates and pass the sauce
separately.

Note: The rum sauce is also good with fresh pineapple. Heat pineapple
"wheels" in it (do not cook. however), then serve on a plate lightly
covered with the sauce.

From: Bill Birner Date: 18 Feb 94

From: Recipes

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini