I love Mardi Gras time and I love King Cake! One of my favorite desserts is bread pudding...Why not combine the 2! If it is prepared correctly and not merely bread and custard. I like my bread pudding to have pizzazz, something you want to write about. Something like, yep, you guessed it, King Cake Bread pudding.
First thing you have to do is to cook off your cinnamon rolls. I like to use 1 1/2 ounce cinnamon rolls. I cook off a few extra. This is for quality control, of course.
Now understand I make this for 25 people at a time so I use a catering pan. So when you read the recipe below I do not want you to get worried. If you have too much bread pudding left over simply call me and I will come take it off your hands for you.
Once the cinnamon rolls have cooled to the touch cut them into 4 pieces each and place them in a lightly greased or sprayed pan.
Next we need to gather our ingredients...eggs, heavy cream, cream cheese, sugar, and orange juice.
once we have the ingredients all together, my mise en place, I still cant resist my formal training, its time to start actually making the goodness I like to call King Cake bread pudding.
First take a heavy bottomed sauce pot and combine half the cream and the cream cheese and heat over medium heat until hot and the cream cheese begins to melt. You will need to stir it so it does not scorch on the bottom. Nothing like burn cream cream to ruin your dessert.
Now the multitasking begins! While you are working to melt and not burn the cream cheese mixture you need to begin beating the eggs and sugar until they are frothy. I still do this by hand but feel free to use a hand mixer, Kitchen Aid or whatever electronic gadget you wish. I still fall back to the days as a pastry apprentice when I was NOT allowed to use anything but a hand whisk. Thank goodness those days are gone and now it is by choice!
Once the eggs are frothy you will begin to temper (slowly and I MEAN slowly pouring)the cream mixture into the frothed eggs while whisking. Again...I mean slowly unless you want cream cheese scrambled eggs.
Remember, you are on the home stretch. Once you have poured all of the cream mixture into the eggs you will pour over the cinnamon rolls and let them set for about an hour-ish. If you can wait, which I struggle with, go for 2 hours.
After the custard is poured over the cinnamon rolls and you let it set you will wrap it with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and bake in the oven. Yes I said plastic wrap and then foil. be sure to cover all of the plastic wrap with foil or the plastic melts. It is a hot oven after all.
Now lastly after you bake it half way you will uncover it and finish it without the wrap or foil. This will help it to brown ever so slightly on top. Then you simply take some powdered sugar and mix JUST enough OJ until it is like a thick sauce, because it is. Then you will cut the King Cake bread pudding and serve. Be careful not to eat the entire pan. If you do...that's okay too! Enjoy!
King Cake Bread Pudding
Yield – 1- 200 pan
56 ea 1.5 oz Cinn rolls, pre-cooked
8 ea Lg. Eggs
1 ½ C Sugar
2 qt Heavy cream
1 lb Cream Cheese, softened
2 C Orange juice
Cut cinnamon rolls into 4 pieces each and place in a greased 200 pan. Place 1 qt cream and cream cheese in a heavy bottomed sauce pot and heat over medium heat until hot and cream cheese has melted. Meanwhile, beat eggs and sugar until light and frothy. Once cream cheese has melted add remaining quart of cream and orange juice and mix. Begin to temper into egg mixture.
Pour custard over rolls and soak overnight. Bake at 325 degrees (conventional oven) covered with wrap and foil, in a water bath, for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an addition 30 minutes or until done.
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