Apple Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

This dish brings me back home to the cool winter nights in Seattle. It can be easily heated up in the microwave, and I love to serve it over a rich vanilla bean ice cream. Seattle in the winter is really cold, grey and gloomy, but this dish was able to warm me up from the inside out.

This dish has developed and changed as I have grown up. At one time I scoffed at bread pudding because it didn’t seem, or sound, like a true dessert. However, over time I grew to accept, love and eventually alter it to better enhance the flavors to fit my pallet. This recipe is one of my favorites as it combines sweet fruit with savory rum to create a medley in your mouth. While there are recipes without rum, I have recently turned 21 and have begun cooking with more alcohol to develop richer and more complex flavors. I have also provided a sauce recipe, while it is not a necessary part, I always enjoy sauces with my food; make if desired.

Yields: About 8-10 Servings

Ingredients:

Apple and Raisin Mixture:

  • ½ Cup Raisins
  • 2 Tbsp Spiced Rum
  • 1 Large Apple, peeled, cored, sliced thin into ½ inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp Butter
  • Dash of Ground Cinnamon
  • About 9-10, ½ inch slices of French Brioche, cubed into ½ inch pieces

Bread Pudding:

  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, plus extra
  • 3 Cups Milk
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • ¾ Cup Brown Sugar, packed
  • 4 eggs, beaten

(Optional) Sauce:

  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
  • ½ Cup Butter
  • ½ Cup Whipping Cream
  • 2 Tbsp Spice Rum
  • ¾ tsp Ground Cinnamon

Instructions:

Bread Pudding:

First Prepare the apple and Raisin Mixture

  1. Place 1 Tbsp of spiced rum in microwave safe bowl and stir in raisins
  2. Microwave bowl for 30 seconds, and stir afterwards
  3. Let raisins sit and absorb rum while preparing apple mixture.
  4. In a medium size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat
  5. Stir in apple pieces, 1 Tbsp spiced rum, dash of cinnamon, and raisin mixture. Raise heat to medium high.
  6. Cook until apples are soft and slightly browned, stirring occasionally. (About 10 minutes)
  7. Remove from heat and combine with bread cubes in a large bowl. Light fold together.

Next create the custard part of the bread pudding.

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Simmer until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, whisking occasionally.
  2. Once mixture is smooth remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then combine with bread, apples and raisins in your large bowl. Lightly fold together and let sit for about 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid. Bread should be soggy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

  1. Add beaten eggs to bowl and stir in till well combined.
  2. Pour mixture into buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish.
  3. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes.

Instructions for Sauce:

  1. Stir Brown Sugar and butter in large saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth
  2. Add cream, rum, and cinnamon and let simmer
  3. Simmer until sauce thickens and slightly reduces. (Be careful not to reduce too much or sauce will thicken too much, if this happens just add about a tablespoon of cream until sauce thins out to desired texture.)
  4. Serve Warm

Adapted and Inspired from:

All Recipes, Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Warm Vanilla Sauce

Epicurious, Spiced Rum Sauce

Jen Segal, Apple Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

Patrick and Gina Neely, Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

 

6 thoughts on “Apple Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

  1. I too have recently become 21, and I would like to cook with alcohol more often and this recipe is just what I am looking for. It is concise and very easy to read, all the while your intro was captivating!

  2. My grandmother used to cook something similar on cold nights here in Texas. I remember enjoying the instant of becoming warmer and that was my favorite part.

  3. Wow. Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts ever, but I have never seen it done with apples and raisins before. That’s a really interesting twist that makes total sense. I also really liked the opening paragraph where you very eloquently described what this recipe means to you and what it makes you feel like. Well done!

  4. I know that people add wine to beef for better taste but have not seen Rum in desert before! It looks fun to make and I think I will try it sometime. I liked the way you explained your own background and related it to the food. Nice recipe!

  5. The recipe went great. Instead of apples, I tried the recipe with pears. Because pears tend to have a higher water content than apples, I reduced the amount of milk in the recipe by about 1/4 cup or so, and this worked perfectly! I love the taste of the rum in the warm bread pudding recipe, and I definitely will be making it again. In the future, when writing recipes, I may suggest that you be a bit more specific by how thick the sauce should be. Other than that and a few grammar mistakes, this recipe was very enjoyable!

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