Blueberry Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Warm bread pudding made with cream and canned blueberry pie filling, and then topped with a rich whiskey butter sauce. Blueberry Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce is super easy to mix up and is the perfect rustic dessert to spoon out for a crowd. 

My question for myself today is whyyyyy am I not making more bread pudding?

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce. I mean… WHISKEY SAUCE!!!  Where have you been all my life?

Clearly I have been missing out until now. But no more.

The last time I made bread pudding it was with pumpkin, and it was 2 whole years ago. And it did not have whiskey sauce. I have no idea why it has taken me this long to indulge again but I’m so glad I did.

Recently I have been slightly obsessed with pie filling. You might have noticed a trend with these Cherry Pie Pancakes and this Black Forest Coffee Cake. It’s like the greatest most delicious little shortcut to wander into my kitchen since my box grater.

So I used this happy little shortcut in this recipe too, with canned pie filling. I was so impressed with how this blueberry pie filling baked up in the bread pudding custard. The blueberries actually plumped up in the oven, just like they would if they were fresh. After I pulled this out the blueberries settled back down and the flavor was like condensed and sort of amplified. I am all about it.

Can I use fresh or frozen blueberries?

Yes.

But the consistency will be different unless you take a few additional steps. The canned pie filling adds some moisture to the recipe, so if you are going to make this with fresh or frozen blueberries, I’d recommend either using those berries to make your own pie filling OR increasing the milk or cream to 1/3-1/2 cup. Fresh berries obviously have quite a bit of moisture in them, so err on the 1/3 cup side of increased liquid.

What can I use in place of the whiskey?

I gave you a double dose of whiskey here. It’s the holiday season and the weekend. Go crazy.

If you don’t have whiskey or bourbon on hand, you can sub in a good rum, or even a good spiced rum. These Spiced Rum Cupcakes with Boozy Buttercream are an OLD recipe, but they are a great example of good spiced-rum-in-cake vibes.

In this recipe, you have whiskey in the butter that soaks the bread cubes AND whiskey in the butter sauce that you will want to drown your whole life in. I am partial to whiskey in this recipe. It feels cozy and kind of old fashioned like a whiskey cake or a classic cocktail.

Let’s just take a second to pause for whiskey butter sauce appreciation.

SLOW IT DOWN. Temper the eggs.

The recipe instructions for the whiskey butter sauce call for lots of stirring. LOTS.

It’s important to melt the butter on really low heat, then add the water and sugar, and finally an egg. Have you ever made old fashioned ice cream with eggs? I have a recipe for Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ice Cream that uses this technique, and honestly, if you’ve never made that recipe, you should add it to your list. It’s an all-time fave.

Anywho, the egg is the reason you need to pay CAREFUL attention to the low temperature. You don’t want to scramble the egg. Scrambled egg sauce is gross.

While stirring constantly, you are going to slowly raise the heat over about 7 minutes. This tempers the egg and cooks it slooooooowly, just like when we make brownies. The sauce will start to simmer at the edges when you reach medium heat. Let it simmer while you stir for a second and then take it off the heat. Add salt, vanilla, and whiskey.

Just so you know I have stockpiled this stuff in my fridge.

This is totally a restaurant-quality dessert you can make without much effort! You’ll be a boozy dessert hero 🦸‍♀️

Happy weekend!

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Such a simple but impressive dessert! Blueberry Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce is easy to make using Lucky Leaf’s Premium Blueberry Pie Filling. It bakes up like a custard and is topped with whipped cream and an amazing buttery whiskey sauce.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 668kcal

Author: Heather Tullos

Ingredients

• 5-7 slices thick crusty bread cut into 1″ cubes (about 5 cups of cubes; I used store-bought Italian bread)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1 ounce Tennessee whiskey
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup Lucky Leaf Premium Blueberry Pie Filling
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• For the Whiskey Sauce:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons Tennessee whiskey
• whipped cream to garnish

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Place the bread cubes in a large bowl. Pour the 1 ounce of whiskey into the melted butter and then pour the whiskey butter over the bread cubes. Toss to evenly coat and then dump the buttery bread cubes into an ungreased 9″ pie plate or about 6 (3 ounce) oven-safe ramekins. The dishes will be full of bread cubes.
• Add the heavy cream, Lucky Leaf Premium Blueberry Pie Filling, milk, sugar, eggs + egg yolk, cinnamon and salt to the large bowl and stir until the eggs are lightly beaten and everything is combined. Pour the liquid evenly over the bread cubes.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. A knife inserted into the center will come out clean when it’s done and the bread will be golden and toasty.
• While the bread pudding bakes, melt the 1/2 cup of butter for the whiskey sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the water and sugar and stir. You want this liquid to be just barely warm — the temperature is important because you don't want to scramble the egg. Add the egg and keep the heat low, STIRRING CONSTANTLY. You will gradually bring the heat up, stirring all the while. This tempers the egg and cooks it slowly. It will take 5-7 minutes to bring the heat up to medium, still stirring. The edges of the liquid will start to simmer and bubble. Stir one more time and remove it from the heat.
• Stir in the kosher salt, vanilla, and whiskey. Let the sauce sit for about 10 minutes so it will thicken before serving.
• Serve the bread pudding warm topped with whipped cream and the whiskey butter sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 668kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 34g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 132mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 1782IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Whiskey sauce Recipe was slightly adapted from Betty Crocker’s Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce.