Bread Pudding with Warm White Wine Butter Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Day-old bread is not a compromise here — it's the whole engine. Dry, thirsty cubes of challah or French bread drink up a cinnamon-vanilla custard during a long unhurried soak, then bake into a pudding with a burnished, almost-crisp top and a barely-set, spoonable middle. A five-minute stovetop sauce of white wine, sugar and cold butter gets poured over each portion while everything is still steaming, so it soaks in halfway and pools in the bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 lb stale challah or French bread (about 10 cups cubed)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, for the dish
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup dry white wine, for plumping the raisins

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp turbinado or granulated sugar, for the top

• 3/4 cup dry-ish white wine (Riesling, Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• lightly whipped cream

Instructions

1. If your bread is fresh rather than stale, cut it into 1-inch cubes, spread on two sheet pans and dry in a 300°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing once, until the cubes feel light and papery but are not browned. Cool completely. Truly stale, 2-day-old bread needs no oven time at all — that dryness is what lets it absorb custard without turning to mush.
2. Combine the golden raisins and 1/4 cup white wine in a small bowl and let sit while you work, at least 20 minutes.
3. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously with the 2 tablespoons softened butter. Pile in the bread cubes and scatter the raisins over, drizzling in any unabsorbed wine.
4. Whisk the milk, cream, whole eggs, egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until completely smooth and the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute of steady whisking.
5. Pour the custard evenly over the bread. Press the cubes down with your palms or a spatula until they are all submerged. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak at room temperature for at least 45 minutes, pressing down again every 15 minutes. For the best texture, soak in the refrigerator 2 hours or up to overnight — the bread should be uniformly soft with no dry, pale corners.
6. Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Uncover the dish, press the bread down one last time so the top layer is glossy with custard, and sprinkle the tablespoon of turbinado sugar over the surface. If the pudding was refrigerated, let it stand on the counter for 20 minutes first.
7. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep golden and slightly puffed and the center is just set — a knife slid into the middle should come out with moist custard clinging to it but no liquid pooling. If the center still ripples like liquid when you nudge the dish, give it another 5 to 10 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes before serving; it will finish setting as it cools.
8. While the pudding rests, make the sauce. Whisk the cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of the wine in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the remaining wine and the 1/2 cup sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, swirling until the sugar dissolves. Simmer 3 minutes to cook off the raw alcohol edge.
9. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 30 seconds, until the sauce turns glossy and lightly coats a spoon. Reduce the heat to low and add the cold butter one piece at a time, whisking constantly and waiting for each piece to melt before adding the next — this keeps the sauce emulsified rather than greasy.
10. Off the heat, whisk in the heavy cream, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Taste: it should be sweet with a clear bright note of wine behind it. Keep warm over the lowest heat, whisking now and then, and do not let it boil once the butter is in.
11. Spoon the warm bread pudding into shallow bowls and pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot wine sauce over each serving so it runs down the sides and pools underneath. Add whipped cream if you like, and serve immediately.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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