My Taste Buds Said NO

I have unfortunate news to report. Over the summer I had my first bread pudding adventure that did not have a happy ending.

This should have been expected. Bread pudding is complex and I put it on a pedestal above all other desserts. And, secretly, unbeknownst to the chef, I am putting a lot of pressure on him/her. This will be the lasting impression I have of the restaurant.

The bread pudding I ate was at a restaurant called Tilli's located in Chicago. What made the bread pudding not so great was that it was not warm. The sauce was bland and the taste was just blah. I did not even finish it........and this is not like me. The only part on my power system that the was done correctly was the consistency. My spoon flowed nicely through the dessert.

My recommendations when making bread pudding is to ensure it is warm, and the sauce has either bourbon, dark rum, or vanilla as a base, and (most important) it is served with a smile.

The Bread Pudding Power Rankings

Someone suggested to me that I create a bread pudding ranking system and start rating all the bread puddings I have tried. I am all about making my reader group happy so here it is:

This is a 25 point ranking. Each of the lines below will be rated on a 5 point scale. 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the highest. Each of the items will be totaled to give the bread pudding an overall score.

Consistency of the bread: How smooth a fork can take a piece of the bread pudding.

Sauce: Flavor of the sauce and how it interacts with the bread pudding.

Temperature: The temperature of the whole dessert (bread and sauce). It should be warm.

Look : How the dessert appears on your plate.

Tastiness: How the does the overall dessert taste.

The First Bread Pudding Made Especially For Me!

A few weeks ago my girlfriend achieved a first that no one has done for me before, she became the first person to make me a home made bread pudding! And, let me tell you it was amazing. She used a recipe from foodnetwork.com (pasted below) that called for panettone bread. My girlfriend baked it to perfection. The consistency was soft and smooth, the sauce melted in my mouth, and it looked like a piece of art work. The sauce was by far the best part of the dessert. It was made with amaretto which brought the whole course together because the panettone bread made the base sweet.

One suggestion we would both give to anyone who wants to make bread pudding is to not use panettone bread. It is too sweet for bread pudding. If a simpler and less flavorful bread was substituted in the recipe it would have set a bread pudding record for my taste buds.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/panettone-bread-pudding-with-amaretto-sauce-recipe/index.html

Bachelor Party Bread Pudding

So this bread pudding has a very interesting story behind it. Mainly because I remember (vaguely) the events around it and not really the taste. I had this bread pudding while attending my friend's bachelor party in New Orleans. The dessert was consumed, along with many drinks, at Commander's Palace, where I think we ruined a lot of people's dinners. There were 12 of us guys who had been out on Bourbon St. all day indulging in adult beverages. Then, we went to dinner all dressed up and nice looking. Ok, I digressed a little bit. Back to the bread pudding. It was the first bread pudding I had to order before dinner (like a chocolate lava cake). And, it was quite similar to a chocolate lava cake because it had a warm gooey center and a cakey outside. I really can't tell you what it tasted like because my taste buds were a little out of commission thanks to Bourbon St. I do know it wasn't worth being my last bite on earth, or else I would have remembered the taste.

Last Bite on Earth

I created a profile on the site Serious Eats (http://www.seriouseats.com) a few weeks ago and they asked me what my last bite on earth would be. So I naturally answered bread pudding. But, the problem I have with this answer is that I do not know which bread pudding I would have. It couldn't just be any bread pudding. If you have been reading my blog you would know I am very particular with my bread pudding and the place I had my favorite bread pudding at is closed. So dessert chefs out there, I challenge you to make a bread pudding that I would make my last bite on earth. If you have one let me know and I will make the trip to come try it (no matter how far I have to travel).

On a side note, if you are a foodie and have not been to or registered on the Serious Eats website I would highly recommend it. There is a lot of good info on there and the user community contributes a lot and quickly. I posted 2 questions and received a lot of feedback within 24 hours.

The only bread pudding I have had Twice

This bread pudding is from Blue Cat Brew Pub in Rock Island, IL. The bread pudding has one of the best sauces I have had. It is made with rum and warm and melts in your mouth. Best part is the chef changes up the sauce recipe so it makes it alright in my book to get this bread pudding twice because it completely changed it. The first one I had used a dark Jamaican rum and the second one had a lighter spiced rum. I personally like the first one with dark rum. It gave the sauce a bolder taste and I really enjoy dark rums.

My First Bread Pudding

The best bread pudding I have ever had was the first one I ever ate. This was nice because it started my obsession for this dessert and my hunt to find one that is just as good or better............I have yet to find one by the way. I got this bread pudding from a place called Flaps in Potomac, MD. Unfortunately, it closed down and I only ordered it once. It has been about 7 or so years since I had it, and I can still taste it to this day.

My father ordered it and I had no idea what I was getting into. I saw bread pudding on the menu and immediately was turned off because I am not one to order pudding for a dessert at a nice restaurant, especially one that has bread in it. But, I trusted my Dad's taste and went with it.

The bread pudding came out on a plate with two spoons. It was shaped in a square and had chunks of bread in it. There was a sauce drizzled over all of it, covering the bottom of the plate so it could swim in it. I dove my spoon in and it slid in easily to scoop out a bite. When the spoon hit my tongue I tasted the best combination of flavors I could think of, but never really thought they worked together............. bourbon and vanilla. What a great combo these two made. The texture of the loaf in my mouth was so smooth and delicious. The bread was still warm.

We proceeded to finish the dessert and I continued to order it anytime I found it on the menu in hopes to find a better one.