Great Chef Christian Iser

Stanford Court Bread Pudding
Christian Iser, with Jim Dodge
Fournou´s Ovens
Stanford Court Hotel
San Francisco CA

Bread Pudding is one of the great comfort foods, and a wonderful use for day-old bread. At the Stanford Court, bread pudding is made with brioche layered with apples and raspberries, an uptown version of a down home favorite. You could purchase brioche for this recipe, and save some of the time. Brioche is a very slow rising bread, and must rise in a warm place, 75 to 80 F, free of drafts, for 4 to 5 hours. Chef Iser gives his brioche recipe in case you want to go all out.

Servings; 12 Preparation time: 1 hour (note elapsed time)

Brioche
1 pound bread flour
1-1/2 ounces sugar
1/2 ounce fresh active yeast (cake or compressed)
1/2 ounce salt
5 eggs
8 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into four pieces

Fruit and Custard
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 quart heavy (whipping) cream
2 medium green apples
1 pint raspberries or sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Confectioner´s sugar for dusting

To prepare the brioche: In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and yeast. Blend well, then add the salt. Add the eggs and continue mixing until the dough is smooth. Add the butter in four additions. Continue mixing until the dough is very elastic and clings to the spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for six hours. Unwrap the dough and cut in half. Shape each half into a ball, then work each into a loaf with the palms of your hands. Place each loaf in a clean loaf pan and let stand in a warm spot, 75 to 80 F, for 4 to 5 hours. When the dough has become slightly puffy, deflate with your hands. Allow the dough to rise again, to the tops of the pans.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the brioche about 45 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and is golden brown. Turn the loaves out of the pans and let cool on a wire rack. You will use one loaf for Bread Pudding.

To prepare the fruit and custard: Mix the eggs, sugar, and flour together until smooth. Pour in the cream and blend well. Cut the crust off one loaf of brioche, slice the loaf into 1/2-inch thick pieces, and cut each piece in half diagonally, Peel, core, and slice the apples.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Liberally butter a 2-1/2 quart souffle dish. Line the bottom with one-third of the brioche slices. Cover the slices with apples, then pour one-third of the custard over the apples. Form a second layer of brioche slices and cover with a layer of raspberries or strawberries. Pour another third of the custard over the raspberries. Top with the remaining brioche slices and custard. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the custard is slightly firm. Let cool completely.

To serve: Dust with confectioner´s sugar. Cut into 12 wedges.