Who doesn’t love a good bread pudding? It’s such an easy dessert that can take on so many different flavors. And using the right bread is just as important as the rest of the ingredients! Ideally, you can use any leftover bread that you may have on hand. But, in my opinion BRIOCHE is best! You want to use fluffy eggy bread, which will give you a lighter bread pudding and not dense.
Brûlée’d rum and orange mascarpone bread pudding is just heavenly. It’s fluffy, light and has all the best flavors. With citrus being at its peak! The orange flavor really stands out and pairs deliciously with the hint of rum. Most recipes use bread chunks, but I love to slice the bread into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.
Now let’s talk about the brûlée’d bit. I definitely own more than a few useless kitchen gadgets and surprisingly, I don’t own a torch. I do bake a lot and I loveeeeee a good creme carmel, I just haven’t gotten around to buying one. So, if you don’t have a nifty torch, your broiler setting works just fine!
Ingredients you’ll need for Brûlée’d orange & rum mascarpone bread pudding
- Eggs
- Milk
- Mascarpone
- Butter
- Orange zest & juice
- Vanilla
- Sugar
- Rum
That luscious silky custard gets poured all over the brioche slices. I like to let the brioche sit for about 30-45 minutes to really soak up all that delicious liquid.
Once the pudding sets in the oven, I sprinkle some sugar on top and broil it for about 1-2 minutes. Make sure to keep your eye on it as it can burn easily. Or just use a torch! This makes the top crisp and adds a perfect crackly sugary top that is so delicious.
Brûlée’d Orange & Rum Mascarpone Bread Pudding
Equipment
- 8 inch square pan
- 4 qt saucepan
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- ¾ large brioche bread loaf cut into ¼-½ inch thick slices
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tsp orange zest
- ½ cup mascarpone
- 3 large eggs
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbs rum light or dark
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice about 1 orange
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs sugar for topping
Instructions
- Arrange the brioche slices into a buttered 9 inch square pan.
- In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter and orange zest on a low flame, just until the butter melts. Turn the heat off and add in your mascarpone. Stirring until it melts down.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl add your sugar, eggs, vanilla, rum and orange juice. Whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Slowly add the cooled milk mixture into the egg mixture. Once that’s well combined, add in the salt and stir.
- Pour the custard over the bread and allow it to sit for 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350.
- Bake for 30 minutes and then remove it from the oven and sprinkle sugar evenly on top. Turn your oven on to broil and pop it back in for another 2-3 minutes. Make sure to keep a close eye on it as it can burn easily. You just want to melt the sugar down. It is best served warm. Serve this with ice cream or dessert sauce of your choice. Enjoy!
Notes
- Brioche bread is my favorite to use when making bread pudding. The texture is light and fluffy. Challah bread works wonderful too!
- Keep your eye on the bread pudding while broiling and check very often as it can burn easily.
- You can totally skip the Brûlée’d part if you’d like.
- Once the custard is poured over the brioche, it’s important to allow all that liquid to absorb into the bread before baking.
- You can use light or dark rum for this recipe.
