Not a Cinco Minute Too Soon! Tres Leches Bread Pudding
Invariably when faced with several choices for dessert I gravitate towards buttery, bready, moist, saucey (new word alert). Everyone generally clamors for the chocolate-centric desserts. I am a sucker for a warm, gushy on the inside, crisp on the outside bread pudding. I love a fruit cobbler or Sticky Toffee Pudding? Oh yeah, right up my dessert alley.
Two of my favorite desserts can be found in Houston. At Kileen’s BBQ, where brisket is the bomb, their dessert, a bread pudding made with croissants, literally melts in your mouth. A warm custard surrounds buttery, moist shards of croissants. YUM.
My other favorite, The Tres Leches Cake at Chuy’s, a Tex-Mex institution found everywhere in Texas and beyond. Yellow cake drenched with 3 kinds of milk, whole,evaporated, and sweetened condensed milk then topped with whipped cream and garnished with fresh berries.
Wouldn’t you know it, some ingenious person decided to combine my two favorite desserts for a delightful Tres Leches Bread Pudding. I came across the recipe in the NYT, JUST in TIME for Cinco de Mayo. Perfect!
So let someone else mix the Margaritas or tend the taco bar. You make the dessert.
The recipe calls for whole milk, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk provides the sugar so don’t substitute for it. I used TJ’s Brioche Loaf to make the bread pudding. For a softer, more custard like pudding, use croissants instead. Both are delicious. Festive twist? Before sliding that puppy into the oven, sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar along with the condensed milk. Serve with a big drizzle of sweetened condensed milk and a dollop of whipped cream.
You’ll thank me…
Tres Leches Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing the baking dish
- 3 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 Cups heavy cream
- 1 Cup Sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Cup whole milk
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 Ounces brioche or challah or croissants cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and egg yolks until completely combined. Whisk in 1 cup/240 milliliters heavy cream, 3/4 cup/180 milliliters condensed milk, (reserve remainder of heavy cream and condensed milk ) 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup evaporated milk, vanilla and salt.
- Set the bread in the prepared dish and pour the egg mixture on top. Press the bread down gently with a spatula to make sure all the pieces are immersed and soak up the liquid. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a kettle of water to a boil. Drizzle 2 tablespoons condensed milk over the pudding. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil then set it inside a large roasting pan. Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
- Bake until the center of the custard is almost set but still slightly wet, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue to bake until the custard is set in the center and the top is golden, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the pudding cool in the water for about 20 minutes.
- Whip the remaining 1 cup/240 milliliters heavy cream to soft peaks. Serve the pudding warm, room temperature or cold with a dollop of whipped cream. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons condensed milk.