Bread Pudding Soufflé and Whiskey sauce

How to use bread leftovers? Bake a Bread Pudding Soufflé! This dessert is old fashioned light, and fluffy. My recipe includes raisins and pecans but you can replace the raisins with fresh fruits (diced apples and blueberries are my favorites), other dried fruits (cherries, apricots, figs..) use honey, chocolate chips, etc.

Serves 8
Praparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
Soufflé
- 5 cups (about half a medium round loaf) day-old French bread (from a loaf, not a baguette), cut into 2 cm cubes
- 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmated
- 4 cups (1 l) milk
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in dark rum (to cover)
- 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
- butter and sugar for the mold

Whiskey sauce
- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon


Prepare the soufflé first.
Coat a large, deep baking dish with butter and sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar, the spices, the vanilla extract until creamy. Mix in the milk

Place teh cubed bread in a large bowl and pour the milk mixture over it. Set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Preaheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 of the sugar until peaks form.

Add the raisins and chopped pecans to the soaked bread and slowly fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the preapared mold and bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the Whiskey sauce, heat the cream over simmering water in a double boiler.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar. Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks into the warm cream.

Return the preparation to the double boiler and cook over simmering water, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Slowly add the bourbon. Continue to cook until the miwture is lightly thick and smooth.

Serve the soufflé with the warm Whiskey sauce.

Small Homemade Walnut Breads

I have a bread machine but for walnut bread, I use my hands :-) Indeed, I actually prepare individual portions because it is so convenient and so cute when I have family or friends over! Using the same recipe I'm going to share with you, you can make Fig and Walnut bread, for an even more fancy homemade bread. Ready? Go!


For 4 small walnut breads
Preparation time: 10 minutes + 1h20 to let rise
Baking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 160g / 1 cup and 1 big tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 10 cl / 3/8 cup (a little bit more than 1/3) warm water
- 1 teaspoon bread yeast (machine bread yeast works wonderfully)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 figs cut into small squares (optional)

Pour the liquids in a large bowl (water, oil, honey). Add the flour and make a small whole in the center and add the yeast. Close the whole with some of the flour and add the salt on the side (the yeast should not come in contact with the salt).

Knead with your hands for at least 5 minutes. If the dough looks dry, add a little bit of water or in the contrary, if the dough is sticky, add a little bit of flour.
At the very end, add the walnuts (and the fig pieces if you are using some).

Leave the ball of dough in the bowl, cover with film paper and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Then place the dough on a clean and lightly floured surface. Cut it into 4 equal parts and shape your small breads (round, oval...). Then place the breads on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and let rise again for about 20 minutes, covered with a clean towel.

Preheat your oven at 350°F / 180°C. Bake the breads for 10 minutes first, then increase the heat to 410°F / 210°C and continue baking for 10 minutes.