Narsai David Food Recipe: Virginia Madden's Bread Pudding

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— This year's annual John Madden BBQ boasted all kinds of delicious summertime food, but an instant favorite was Virginia Madden's bread pudding.

For years Virginia has been making the Ultimate Chocolate Cake (a recipe that can be found in John Madden's Ultimate Tailgating Cookbook) and that's an absolute winner, but this year she outdid herself by making two desserts; no small feat for that amount of people.

Her bread pudding makes one 9 x 13" pan is a simple recipe with a whiskey-sauce topping that really rates it as phenomenal.

Virginia Madden's Bread Pudding

Makes 1 9 x 13" pan

1 loaf bread
1 quart whole milk
4 eggs
1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 cups raisins or other fruit
1-1/2 sticks real butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup cheap whiskey
½ cup walnuts or other nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut bread into 1-inch squares and place in bowl. Pour milk over bread and let stand at least 1-2 hours.

In another bowl, beat2 eggs with granulated sugar and vanilla. Pour into bowl with bread. Add raisins or fruit. Pour into oil sprayed pan. Bake 1 hour. Let cool. While cooling, make sauce.

Heat butter over low heat. Mix in powdered sugar. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Beat remaining eggs and whisk into the sauce. Now the good part: add whiskey and mix well. Pour sauce over pudding, using a fork to get the sauce into entire pudding. Really poke fork into pudding!

Great with ice cream, coffee, or whatever. Enjoy!

Narsai David is the KCBS Food and Wine Editor. He has been a successful restaurateur, chef, TV host, and columnist in the Bay Area spanning four decades. You can hear him Saturdays at 10:53am, 12:53pm and 4:53pm, and at 2:53am Sunday on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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