I am such a sucker for bread pudding, the gooey-ness, the sweetness, the texture, I’m pretty sure mmmm/droool is the best way to sum it up. I already have my bread pudding that I’ve made a million times I’m just in love with, and I always feel the need to try different kinds offered at restaurants just in case something sparks my imagination or my taste buds.
And though I love my go-to recipe, I wanted to do something completely different from anything I’ve ever seen done with bread pudding (still no raisins, those will never be OK in it-sorry raisin fans I still love you). I gotta say I really think I have found a new, fun and not to mention delicious take on a traditional bread pudding. One word…cornbread, yes, I crumbled up homemade cornbread and made bread pudding out of it. I was initially worried that it would taste way too much like my super awesome cornbread dressing except sweet, but it sooo doesn’t.
There is definitely a noticeably different texture with this dressing, kind of crumbly, but the savory of the cornbread mixed with all of the decadent sweet stuff I added makes this just incredible and hello(!) I poured my butter rum sauce on it drinking it with a straw had crossed my mind and wowza I seriously couldn’t eat enough of it. Y’all so need to make this, and trust me, there is no, ‘just one little bite’ of this stuff because it’s just that good 🙂
First thing, cornbread…here is the cornmeal…
Then the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder…
Then the butter…
Now the buttermilk…
Mix, mix, mix…
Now melt some butter in your pan, because it’s better that way :-)…
Pour all of that melted deliciousness in your batter…
Mix it all up and pour into your cast iron skillet…
Bake, bake…
Once cooled, take out of the skillet and either wrap it up to let it hang out for a while or start on making the pudding…
To make the pudding, tear it up with your hands, and place in your bowl…
Then add your milk and heavy cream…
Then add your sugar…
Then the vanilla…
Now the eggs…
Mix it all up, yes very liquid-ey, but that’s good…
Pour into your pan…
While that is baking, lets make the butter rum sauce….oh yes, soo good, butter in a pan for starters…
Once melted, add your water and sugar…
Boil all of it…
Then remove from heat, and slowly add your spiced rum…
Look how delicious that looks…
Now get in there and eat the heck out of this…
- 1 Cup of Yellow Cornmeal.
- 1 Cup of All-Purpose Flour.
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder.
- 1 Teaspoon of Salt.
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda.
- 2 Cups of Buttermilk.
- 2 Large Eggs.
- 1/2 Cup of Unsalted Butter.
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet.
- Day Old Cornbread, Cut Into Pieces.
- 1/2 Cup (1 Stick) of Unsalted Butter.
- 5 Cups of Milk.
- 1/2 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream.
- 2 1/2 Cups of Granulated Sugar.
- 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla.
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Salt.
- 5 Large Eggs.
- 9x13" Pan.
- 1 Stick of Butter.
- 1/4 Cup of Water.
- 1 Cup of Sugar.
- 1/2 Cup of a Spiced Rum (I Used Captain Morgan).
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs, then add the dry ingredients and stir together until combined.
- Place your stick of butter in your iron skillet and place in the oven to completely melt the butter, which you then pour into your batter and stir to combine.
- Now pour your batter into your skillet and bake for 22 minutes.
- Let your cornbread cool completely, remove from skillet, then completely wrap in aluminum foil and let it sit overnight.
- Using your hands or knife, rip the cornbread into pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Pour your milk and heavy cream onto your cornbread, then add the sugar, butter, vanilla, eggs, and salt.
- Mix these all together until well incorporated.
- Pour into a 9x13 pan, cover and let sit for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place in your oven and bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered until desired consistency is reached.
- In a small saucepan melt your butter, then stir in the water and sugar.
- Boil these ingredients for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and slowly stir in the rum.
- Serve immediately with your cornbread pudding.
- If you're in a hurry, you do not necessarily have to make the cornbread ahead of time nor let your pudding batter sit, I have just found the flavors are more pronounced when they all have time to sit together for a while.