Bread Pudding

There are several foods that I am willing to endure the pain of gluten for, or at least that I think I will be open to doing so, given the early term of my gluten free life:
1. Gnocchi
2. Croutons
3. Bread Pudding (preferably from Alfred's)

While I've found 2 acceptable substitute for croutons (one purchased, one home made), I was really thinking that the other two might be lost causes. I've yet to see a viable solution for gnocchi. There are recipes out there, but per reviews, apparently more than 50% end in the "gnocchi" dissolving in the boiling water. Mariposa bakery in the ferry building apparently has it from time to time, but after Valentine's Day, when I called ahead and they promised to have it there for me to pick up, and then they did not, my faith level for them is not super high.

Occasionally, things go your way. I was invited to a birthday party where the theme was Southern Comfort food this weekend. The gracious hostess was planning to prepare Mac & Cheese, Fried Chicken, Sloppy Joes and Red Velvet Cupcakes. While I knew I could get through dinner by eating Sloppy Joe's sans bread, dessert was going to be an issue.

Brainstorming Southern food, and with the help of the internet, I decided to try to find a recipe for bread pudding, preferably involving Bourbon. As luck would have it, I came upon this link: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/dessertsandsweets/r/gfbreadpudding.htm which provided a recipe for GF bread pudding with apples and raisins, and a bourbon sauce. Jackpot.

The recipe even gave guidance for using Udi's bread instead of homemade GF bread. I'm a big Udi's fan and always have it in the fridge. I subbed 85% chocolate for the apples and raisins, breaking up a bar of Scharfenberger as the last step, stirring it in and adding a few semisweet chips after I'd poured the mixture into the baking pan.

The bread pudding came out nicely, but the hit was the sauce - 1/2 cup of cream, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of Woodford Reserve. Heat the cream, add the sugar, boil, remove from heat immediately, stir in the vanilla and the bourbon, and you've got vanilla bourbon caramelly deliciousness.

Dessert was served to a crowd that were on average 3 drinks in, and received incredibly well. No one could believe it was gluten free. Not exactly health food, but a great option for holidays!

Now if I can only solve the gnocchi issue...

Here's the full recipe:

Preheat oven to 325. Butter a baking dish (I used a standard glass pie pan).
Ingredients:
1 12oz loaf of Udi's bread
2 cups of heavy cream
1/2 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon(ish) of bourbon
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 large bar of dark chocolate, broken up into a lot of pieces.
A handful of semisweet chips, or more dark chocolate of your choice.
Cut up the bread into cubes - I made 9 cubes out of each slice. I hear stale bread works better, but mine was from a sealed loaf and right out of the fridge.
Put the cut up bread into a large bowl.
Heat the cream in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the sugar and stir it until it melts.
Pour the cream/sugar mixture over the bread. Stir a little bit to coat (not too much or the bread will fall apart).
Let the bread/cream mixture cool.
Beat the eggs lightly. Add the cinnamon, vanilla and bourbon. Beat until mixed, but don't overbeat the eggs.
Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Fold in gently (again, not too much or the bread will turn to mush).
Pour the melted butter over the mixture. Fold in gently.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan. Pat it down (don't squeeze too hard). Make sure the chocolate is distributed equally(ish) and add more as you see fit.
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.
Serve warm with bourbon sauce.
Go to the gym for the next 7 days :)