Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

By Sam Sifton

Updated November 29, 2017

  • Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Maeve Sheridan.
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Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
5(924)
Comments
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Here is a nod both to the original bananas Foster at Brennan’s restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans and to the luxe version of bananas baba au rhum that the Louisiana chef Allison Vines-Rushing once cooked at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar in the East Village. Silky and rich, deep with the flavors of bananas, rum and custard, it is not much work to make, and pays off in incredible flavor. Do not be afraid to use an even darker sugar than the brown called for in the recipe, though molasses may be a step too far. You are looking for a deep caramel hue and flavor in the sauce, to complement the rum and the fruit. (And if you're looking to try the original, make our bananas foster recipe.)

Featured in: Not Your Ordinary Bananas Foster

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

  • 4 large eggs

  • 2 cups whole milk

  • ¼ cup plus ½ cup brown sugar

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoon plus ½ cup dark rum

  • 1 teaspoon plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  • 6 cups cubed brioche, approximately ½ loaf

  • 5 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into coins

  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • ¼ cup heavy cream

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

49 grams carbs; 127 milligrams cholesterol; 406 calories; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 16 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 550 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 29 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. FOR THE BREAD PUDDING

    1. Step 1

      Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, ¼ cup of brown sugar, vanilla, 1 tablespoon rum and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the bread, and stir so that it absorbs the liquid. Set aside to soak.

    2. Step 2

      Butter a 2-quart baking dish, and place it on a baking sheet. Line the bottom of the dish with banana coins, then spoon about ½ of the soaked bread over them. Top with banana coins, and spoon the remaining soaked bread over the top. Bake for 40 minutes, then sprinkle with the tablespoon of white sugar. Continue baking until the pudding is puffed and golden on top, approximately 50 to 60 minutes total.

    3. Step 3

      Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a small sauce set over medium heat. Add the remaining brown sugar, cream, remaining rum and salt, and whisk until combined. Simmer, whisking, until the sauce has thickened, approximately 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

    4. Step 4

      Serve the pudding warm, with some of the sauce drizzled over the top, alongside vanilla ice cream.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
924 user ratings
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Comments

kathyabc88

Yes -- this is a great make ahead dessert. I made this for our Easter family dinner dessert. I made it around noon and then reheated it in the oven @ 350 for about 15 minutes that evening. I reheated the rum sauce for a few minutes. Served it with vanilla ice cream, and it was a hit. There was a little left that I reheated a few days later & it was still delicious. One thing I did was dip the bananas in a little lemon juice as I was making the layers to keep the bananas from turning brown.

ler

Can this be made ahead?

Larry

Everyone wolfed it down (and without ice cream)! I would recommend using 6 (regular-size) bananas instead of 5, though.

L

Brilliant! So delicious. But it can be streamlined and even maybe improved a tiny bit with 2 small changes: mash and whisk the bananas into the egg-and-milk mixture before soaking the bread (just skip the medallions and layering), and then also skip the white sugar layer. (This is a flexible enough recipe to stand up to pretty much any bread you have: I used half cinnamon swirl bread and half banana bread that had gotten lost in the freezer and it was still great.) Finally, others are correct: don’t add corn starch to the sauce, but do cook it a lot longer than 8 minutes at a nice brisk simmer and you’ll get more browning on the butter and smoother, less alcoholic melding of the rum flavor. This is one of the best recipes on this site and one of the best bread puddings I’ve ever had.

Jill

My bananas turned pink? Any idea why? Any ideas as to how to prevent this phenomena? Delicious despite looking like ham nuggets. 🫤

L

@Jill If you mash them and mix them into the eggs-and-milk mixture before soaking the bread, you’ll get all of the flavor and none of the chance that your bananas will oxidize to weird colors in noticeable chunks . (You can also soak your banana slices in lemon juice to slow down the oxidation, but I’m too lazy for that!) Cheers!

Brooke

Paul says, “Made this today to take to work. Baked it in a crockpot ceramic container and then put that in the crockpot to keep warm. Worked great. Everyone was crazy about it.”

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