Dirigible Plum Bread Pudding
JessicaIn this Christmas dessert, the Dirigible Plums seemingly float to the top of this upside-down cake/bread pudding hybrid. The whole thing is topped with Professor Trelawney's secret sherry sauce.
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
- 3 croissants large, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices
- 1/4 cup butter unsalted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar light
- 1 Tbsp. corn syrup light
- 4 plums halved, pitted, sliced
- pecans halved
- 2 egg large
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sherry wine
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
Sherry Sauce
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp. sherry wine
Instructions
Bread Pudding
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place croissant slices on a baking sheet and toast in oven about 5–10 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, sherry, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a 10 1/2" cast iron pan over medium to low heat. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir until blended and bubbling. Remove from heat.
- Arrange sliced plums in a circular pattern in pan. Dot with pecan halves and set aside.
- Place toasted croissant pieces evenly over plums. Pour egg/milk mixture over croissants, gently pressing on them to absorb liquid.
- Bake for 35–45 minutes or until custard is set.
- Remove from oven and cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes.
- Place a platter on top of pan and invert bread pudding onto platter. Serve warm, topped with sauce.
Sherry Sauce
- Melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat in saucepan.
- Remove from heat and stir in cream carefully.
- Whisk egg in seperate bowl.
- Whisk egg while slowly adding 1/4 of the heated mixture. Then, whisk egg back into pan.
- Return pan to stove and heat until just boiling, whisking vigorously all the while. Do not let it boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in sherry.
Notes
- Warming the cream separately for the sherry sauce will reduce splattering and risk of injury from hot sugar.
- Photo by Amanda Lim