Brown Butter Toffee Bread Pudding

Six tablespoons of butter are cooked until the milk solids turn amber and smell of toasted nuts, cooled briefly and whisked into a custard sweetened with light brown sugar.

The toffee is a stovetop sauce: cream, dark brown sugar and butter simmered for five to seven minutes until glossy. Warm pudding, a pool of sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream finish it.

How to Make It

1. Dish buttered

   Heat oven to 350°F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. Butter browned

   Brown the 6 tbsp butter in a saucepan until nutty and amber; cool 5 minutes.

3. Brown butter custard

   Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and browned butter. Toss with the bread cubes and soak 15 minutes.

4. Baked

   Transfer to the dish and bake 40 to 45 minutes until set and the centre reaches 160°F.

5. Toffee sauce

   For the sauce, simmer 1 cup cream, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3 tbsp butter for 5 to 7 minutes until glossy. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

6. Served

   Serve the warm pudding with toffee sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredient Notes

Unsalted butter, browned

Six tablespoons, cooked to amber and cooled before it meets the eggs.

Dark brown sugar

Half a cup packed, for a deeper toffee sauce.

Vanilla ice cream

For serving, one scoop per portion.

Success Tips

• Use a light-coloured pan for browning so you can see the solids change colour.
• Scrape the browned bits from the pan into the custard; they carry most of the flavour.
• Keep the toffee sauce at a gentle simmer so it does not boil over.

Why This Recipe Works

• Browned butter adds a toasted flavour plain melted butter does not have.
• Brown sugar in the custard deepens the colour of the top as it bakes.
• Simmering the sauce reduces the cream until it clings.
• Cold ice cream against warm sauce is what makes the dish.

Serving Ideas

Set a warm square on a plate, pour toffee sauce around it and top with ice cream and a little more sauce.

Storage and Reheating