{the recipe redux - recipe contest} lactose free bread pudding
Monday, November 12, 2012 at 8:11AM
If you find it hard to believe that there are less than 50 days left 'til Christmas, you're not alone. It's snuck up on me, too. But if I had any doubt it's true, I have two tattered shop-at-home toy catalogs floating around my house that a certain six year old has adopted as his new favorite reading material.
(Santa, watch out. I know somebody who's building quite a long list for ya.)
Next week marks my family's unofficial start of The Celebration Season... a "festivus" of sorts (please tell me you get that reference?) - Thanksgiving, holiday parties, shopping, cookie swaps, Christmas followed closely by two family birthdays and the New Year. And it's all this celebrating that prompted The Southeast Dairy Association to issue today's Recipe ReDux Recipe Challenge - let's give folks who eat lactose free something to celebrate.
Wait - dairy & lactose free... aren't those two mutually exclusive?
No, they're not. And here's why:
Many people have the misperception that all dairy foods contain lactose. I've worked in, with & for the dairy industry for years and have learned that there are a number of dairy foods that are naturally lactose free. The quickest one that comes to mind is aged cheese. I've detailed here multiple times my working relationship with Cabot Creamery and working with them I've learned that the aging process of cheese eliminates lactose (the natural milk sugar found in milk).
But beyond cheese, there are other dairy foods that are also lactose free. Similar to how time and the aging process break down lactose in cheese, many milk brands use a simple lactase enzyme to break down the lactose in fluid milk, offering dairy lovers a lactose free option right in the dairy case.
So what's the catch with lactose free milk? Not much, really. It's just like regular milk - same nutrients, same cookability, but with a *little* bit sweeter taste (breaking lactose down into its two basic sugar molecules tastes slightly sweeter on the tongue.)
If you're not lactose intolerant, this may not sound like much to celebrate. But I've known enough dairy lovers who had to forgo the foods they loved to know re-discovering holiday favorites is a gift of its own. That's why I chose to makeover one of my own personal holiday favorites - bread pudding (made all the more festive with a boozie dose of bourbon.) All that milky egg custard is what makes bread pudding so yummy, but it's also what makes prompts lactose intolerant folks to push the plate away. Not anymore - pull up a spoon, fork or glass this holiday season and celebrate festively, lactose free.
{lactose free} bourbon bread pudding
Ingredients (6 servings)
- 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat lactose free milk
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 (1-pound) loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1 tablespoon 2% reduced-fat lactose free milk
- Splash of vanilla
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Combine milk, bourbon, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl; stir well. Add bread cubes, tossing gently. Spoon mixture into an 8- x 8-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until pudding is set.
Combine sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Dissolve cornstarch in milk and stir into water. Cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon, vanilla and salt.
Disclosure: The Southeast Dairy Association compensated The Recipe ReDux (co-owned by ReganMillerJones, Inc. and Teaspoon Communications), to sponsor this recipe contest. I am therefore not eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. Opinions expressed are my own.
