My friends Peter and Matt came over for dinner earlier this week, armed with great wine and a loaf of French bread. We drank nearly all of the wine, but made hardly a dent in the bread…which means it’s been sitting in its paper bag on my kitchen table, getting progressively harder and harder. By this morning, it was about 30 seconds away from being composted (or used as a hammer)…until a spicy-sweet brown sugar custard saved the day.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter $1 for a stick
- 1/2 cup plus 4 tsp brown sugar Pantry
- 1 pint half-and-half $1.50
- 2 egg yolks $1.50 for 6 eggs
- pinch salt Pantry
- 1 small piece ginger, peeled and finely minced (about 1 tbsp) $0.50
- 2 tsp vanilla extract $4 for 4 oz.
- 1 baguette, preferably day-old, cut into 1" cubes $1.50
Recipe Serves 4
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 4 ramekins or 1 8" pan.
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar. Continue stirring until sugar has melted and begun to bubble (it will stick together before melting during this process--just keep stirring). Add the ginger and the vanilla.
- Slowly pour in the half-and-half, a little bit at a time. Keep stirring as you pour it in and then continue to stir until a creamy butterscotch-like sauce forms.
- In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop about 1/4 cup of the brown sugar mixture and slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking lightly to warm the eggs up without scrambling them.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture into the brown sugar mixture, continuing to whisk. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens, 1-2 minutes.
- Turn the burner off and pour bread cubes into the custard, stirring to ensure they are fully-soaked. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Use a spatula or spoon to press the mixture into the prepared ramekins or pan. Top with remaining brown sugar.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the mixture has set. Serve warm or chilled.
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What They're Saying
Katie, on Jul 31, 07:45 PM, wrote:
Ummm you forgot to tell us when to add the ginger and vanilla extract!