Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
1 loaf yellow Texas toast or challah bread, cut in 1-inch cubes
10 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
40 oz. heavy cream, scalded
1 cup dried blueberries
18 ozs. Whiskey Sauce (see recipe below)
for garnish powdered sugar and mint
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 325° F.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar to pale ribbons. Add vanilla and incorporate.
- Add hot cream slowly to egg mixture while whisk- ing, taking care not to curdle the egg.
- Place bread cubes in a 15” x 10” Pyrex baking pan which has been lightly coated with non-stick spray.
- Sprinkle bread cubes evenly with dried blueberries in two layers.
- Pour cream mixture evenly over entire pan of bread. Make sure to soak all of the pieces. Let stand for 30 minutes, to absorb all the liquid.
- Cover with tented foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes in a water bath, then remove foil cover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until it is set (when a toothpick comes out clean and it is beautifully browned).
- Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting. • Cut into 12 even squares, 3” x 4”.
- For service, reheat in a 250o F. oven until warm. Plate, drizzle liberally with Whiskey Sauce, sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with mint.
For the Whiskey Sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
2 ozs. Jack Daniels Whiskey
Procedure:
- Heat butter in a saucepan until melted and barely simmering.
- Slowly add sugar while whisking, until it is totally dissolved and the melted butter is hot to the touch.
- Place egg yolks in a stainless-steel bowl and slowly whisk in a small portion of the hot butter/sugar mixture. This will temper the eggs so they won’t curdle. Place the mixture in a saucepan.
- Whisk the rest of the eggs into the butter-and-sugar mixture in the saucepan, stirring quickly and constantly over low heat. Remove from heat, transfer to a storage container and allow to cool, stirring from time to time to promote more rapid cooling.
- When the sauce is about room temperature, add whiskey and mix well.
Submitted by Keith Foster, Executive Chef, The Legend at Brandybrooks, Wales, Wis.
