I'm baking... So I must be depressed. Be that as it may:
(Vegan) Whiskey Bread Pudding w Vanilla Sauce
- Loaf of Italian Como Bread gone stale (or a pair of baguettes, or whatever. Bread).
- Almond milk, couple cups (enough to cover, don't pour in yet)
- Stick of not-butter & Brown Sugar creamed together with a splash of bourbon vanilla until it tastes wow.
- Spices : Cinnamon (lots), nutmeg (little), clove (even less), garam masala (maybe)
- Golden raisins soaked in whiskey for a while, plus whatever they don't absorb
Essentially... Mix it all together*... Let soak awhile... Squash it down flat (I use bricks wrapped in tinfoil), let sit a little while, forget about it, remember it... Throw it in the oven, swear at the bricks you forgot to take off before they het up to a million degrees, take the bricks out & crumble more brown sugar over the top, knock back a shot of whiskey in homage to the baking gods, and bake at 350 until hot and bubbly throughout and mostly dry on top (pour out any extra liquid, then give it a minute or three extra, if your bread just didn't soak it all up as it should, stupid bread)... Then either crank up the heat and watch it like a hawk under the broiler for half a second to caramelize the top, or whip out a blowtorch... And voila. Serve with vanilla sauce.
* The Hard Way : Massage that brown sugar butter cream into the bread, and get all your spices into the milk adjusting until it tastes almost too sweet & spiced to bear (the bread mutes it), and pour over. Fold in boozy raisins.
* The Cheater Way : Dump your raisins in and give it a good toss so they're not all hiding in one corner. Melt that sucker (butter cream) in the microwave & add to warmed up sweet & spiced milk (also microwave) & pour over.