Limoncello Bread Pudding

Universal hit.  Not a sad face in the crowd when I unveiled it last night at an evening of wine and cheese or with the samples left at home.

What to do when you have an abundance of lemons has been addressed before, make limoncello.  Then what do with all the limoncello you have floating around is the next question, why make stuff with it.

This recipe is a conglomeration of several I found on the web.   I used more common ingredients to ensure ease of duplication.

For the bread I grabbed a simple rustic white bread, but really texas toast or an Italian loaf will work just fine.  Don't make yourself crazy trying to find things like Challah or Brioche loaves.  The key to the bread absorbing all of the egg mixture is to buy it a few days prior to making your bread pudding and leave it on the counter so it dries out some.  Stale bread absorbs custards better, remember that factoid for all bread puddings.

Limoncello Bread Pudding
Bread Pudding

• 1 1/2 c Half and Half
• 7 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 c limoncello
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 quarts bread cubes.

Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1-2T limoncello

Cube bread into 1/2 inch cubes.  Keep crust as that adds color and texture to your bread pudding.
Combine eggs, half and half, vanilla, salt, sugar, limoncello, and zest.  Whisk well until combined.  Pour over bread cubes. Toss lightly to coat all cubes.

Let set on counter 20 minutes.  Toss occasionally to keep bread completely covered in custard mixture.

Preheat oven to 325.
Generously butter the bottoms and sides of 5-6 small ramekins.  Spoon in bread mixture until within a half inch of the top of ramekin.

Place filled ramekins on baking sheet.  Spritz aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray and cover with foil sprayed side down on the ramekins.  Bake 20 minutes.  Remove foil.  Bake additional 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden and tests clean with a tooth pick.

Cool.  

Prepare glaze by combining powdered sugar, zest, and juice of lemon.  Add limoncello as needed to thin to consistency of heavy cream.  Spoon glaze over the bread pudding just prior to serving.

I can't claim credit for this Limoncello but it does rock the house down.

I can't claim this recipe as my own. What I do with it however is my own more or less. The recipe comes from celebrity chef Mario Batali and it can be found HERE.

So what have I done with it other than serve it straight up over ice as an apertif? A few things actually.

A trick or two...don't use plastic in the process of making the recipe. The lemon oils with the help of the vodka will permeate the plastic and ruin it for anything else. Learned this the hard way so pay heed to this little warning. Storing the final product I found that using the Efferve stoppered bottles makes for a tight seal as well nice presentation. (I'm totally fond of the Efferve lemonade and blood orangeade so having empty bottles around is not an issue...rather than recycle I reuse this time around).

Limoncello marinated fruit is awesome over icecream or pound cake. Take strawberries, peaches and whatever other fruit you like that is in season and cut up into bite sized pieces in a bowl. I use a ratio of about 1 part limoncello to 4 parts cut fruit. Let it marinate overnight or at least 6 hours for all of that boozy lemony goodness to soak into the fruit before serving.

Limoncello cocktails...light and refreshing. Use equal parts club soda and limoncello over ice and a sprig of mint.

Limoncello cake....make your basic yellow cake. When done baking and cooled to room temp remove the cake from the pan. On a wire rack place cake, poke it with a cake tester (toothpick will work too) all over the top. Carefully and slowly pour 1/4c limoncello over each layer of cake.

Take the cake layers and frost as usual. (I haven't made a limoncello glaze yet but imagine it can be done and its on my test agenda to take the lemon taste up one more level).

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