Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras is in full swing in New Orleans. So I decided this past weekend that we needed some N’awlins fare in our household. I spent my early “formative childhood years” in New Orleans (birth to 6) and the food culture must have been impressed into my heart. This recipe is a combination of two decidedly southern New Orleans desserts. Bread pudding and bananas foster.
A couple of stories about both bread pudding and bananas foster. First, bread pudding. I’m a big fan. Other people not so much. They think it’s soggy bread. My mom is very picky about her bread pudding because it cannot be soggy. The first time I remember having bread pudding was in New Orleans. It wasn’t when I was younger but when I returned to go to a wedding there. I had numerous helpings that night. I hope they weren’t counting!
Also, we went to Colorado every summer as a family (Colorado is also impressed on my heart for those of you in the know). We went to Breckenridge, Colorado and we used to go a restaurant there called Poirrier’s. It had great cajun food and excellent bread pudding. It went out of business some time ago which is really sad because I loved that place. And again, they had the absolute best bread pudding. But one year, while it was still in business, I tried to dissect the bread pudding and figure out what made it so delicious. From that experience, my dad and I then started a competition. For 10 years in a row, we had a Bread Pudding Bake-Off. We would both make a bread pudding and then we would serve it anonymously to our guests and they chose the winner. One year, we did it during Mardi Gras and made the whole event Mardi Gras themed. It was a good time!
Not to brag, but I think I won 8 out of 10 those competitions. We haven’t done it the past several years and I’m thinking my dad got tired of being beat so he keeps giving me excuses of why we’re not doing it. My kids have been asking for the Bread Pudding Bake-Off so we have to bring it back! I have to say this bananas foster recipe would be a worthy contender!
And that brings me to bananas foster. Bananas foster is a dessert made with bananas and vanilla ice cream. The bananas are cooked in butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Rum is then added to the mix and set on fire. It makes a spectacular show. This dish was created at Brennan’s, a restaurant in New Orleans, back in the 1950’s.
Ryan and I were married in New Orleans and spent the next several days in New Orleans as part of our honeymoon. On our last night in New Orleans, we went to Brennan’s for dinner. **Correction – after writing this, my husband informed me that we actually went to Commander’s Palace. Oh well. But anyway, we had a fine meal and ordered bananas foster for dessert at Commander’s Palace (not Brennan’s). The bananas foster was absolutely delish. (And we did go to Brennan’s on another trip to New Orleans.)
But my memory of that meal is forever altered by what happened at the very end of it. As I was taking my last bite, I heard a blood curling scream from someone across the way. We were eating outside in the courtyard and there was a little hallway coming into the courtyard. Apparently, one of the servers saw a rat run in front of her which obviously surprised her. Unfortunately, the rat wasn’t done with his shenanigans because it then started running through the courtyard. The server yelled at me to “raise my feet” because the rat was running under our table. And there went this (rather large) rat right under my feet under our table. It was an experience I’ll never forget, that’s for sure! Everyone always ask if we got our meal on the house but we had already paid and were finishing our last bites. Anyway, we were eating outside in a courtyard and it was New Orleans (the restaurant is across the street from one of New Orleans’ many above-ground graveyards). And I still love New Orleans and bananas foster. And I’d go back to Commander’s Palace if I had the chance.
Well….onto this recipe. It’s a combination of two of my favorite southern desserts. It takes a little bit of prep work but not too much.
First off, make sure you have bread that is a little dried out. This allows the bread to soak up the custard mixture. I usually buy a loaf of french bread and open up the bag and let it sit open for a day or two. Sometimes, I’ll actually cube up the bread and let it sit in the bag for a day. Depends on how motivated I am when I get my bread home and whether I want to cut it up right then.
Next step – make the bananas foster part of the recipe. I think it’s the most important part of the recipe. It only takes about 5 minutes to cook the bananas in the butter and brown sugar, but it adds the depth to the bread pudding.
After cooking the bananas, add the dark rum. Don’t leave it out because it really makes the sauce come together!
Then, while the bananas are cooling down a bit, mix up the custard mix to go over the bread. After you have added the custard to the bread, fold in most of the bananas foster mixture. I reserved approximately a cup of the sauce to serve over the bread pudding after it was cooked which was a totally good decision.
Also – let your bread pudding sit in the custard for about an hour. I think that this step really helps with the consistency of the bread pudding. I usually press the custard into the bread with a spoon or spatula several times while it’s sitting in the custard. You don’t have to wait, but I’m telling you it makes the bread pudding much better. You can even let it sit overnight if you’re so inclined (in the fridge, of course)!
I put whipped cream on top of my bananas foster bread pudding the first day I made it. But what you really need to do is put vanilla ice cream on top!! Bananas foster is served with vanilla ice cream. The only reason I don’t have any pictures with vanilla ice cream is because I didn’t have any at home the day I made it and I didn’t want to go to the store in the snow.
But I did get vanilla ice cream the next day and it’s doubly delicious with vanilla ice cream on top. I don’t have any pictures of it, and I know “pics or it didn’t happen.” But I’m here to tell you it did happen, and you should try this recipe with vanilla ice cream on top!
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Prep Time | 30 minutes |
Cook Time | 45 minutes |
Passive Time | 1 hour |
Servings |
servings
|
- 4 bananas sliced
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cups brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup dark rum
- 4 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups cream, half and half, or milk (I used a combination)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 cups cubed bread (I used french bread)
Ingredients
Bananas Foster Mixture
Bread Pudding
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- Melt butter in saucepan. Once melted, add brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for about 2 minutes. Add sliced bananas and cook for several minutes, stirring gently. Add rum and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat. Cool. Reserve 3/4 cup of banana sauce as additional sauce once bread pudding is cooked.
- Preheat oven to 350. Butter or spray with cooking spray a 9 x 13 pan. Spread cubed bread in pan.
- Mix eggs, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Slowly fold in the bananas foster topping. Pour over cubed bread. Press gently with the back of a spoon or spatula to push the cream mixture into the bread. Let sit approximately one hour to let the custard soak into the bread.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until puffed.
- Right before serving, reheat bananas foster mixture and pour over bread pudding. You can also serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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