Freshly baked bread is used to make a decadent bread pudding, using local Southern California blackberries that grow year round, and it’s then doused in a homemade vanilla custard. Once baked, the pudding is sliced and dipped in an eggy batter before being seared on a flat top to golden brown perfection and finished with a beautiful blackberry compote and powdered sugar.
Courtesy of Chef Oscar Ayala of Wilma & Frieda.
Related: Monki Bistro’s Hazelnut Chocolate French Toast
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ingredients
Bread Pudding
Custard (for bread pudding and to dip french toast in)
Blackberry Compote
Toppings
directions
For the bread pudding: mix eggs, cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a bowl by hand.
Layer bread slices with fresh blackberries in a pan creating three layers.
Pour the egg custard over the entire stacked pan and press down to ensure the custard mixture is fully soaked into the bread.
Cover the pan with foil and bake it for 25 minutes at 350ºF.
For the blackberry compote: place all ingredients in a pot and cook on medium heat, down to a liquid consistency. This cooks for about 5-10 minutes, just until it boils.
Immersion blend it all in the pot. and set aside for plating.
The compote is strained through a chinois to remove seeds. Set aside for plating.
For the French toast: once baked and cooled, slice the bread pudding for French toast assembly.
Using another egg custard mixture, dip the bread pudding slices.
Place the dipped bread pudding slices on the griddle at medium heat and let it cook for 3-5 minutes per side.
To assemble: cut the French toast diagonally and plate it.
Top with the blackberry compote and garnish with fresh blackberries and powdered sugar.