Recipe French Toast Bread Pudding with Caramelized Bananas Shutters Caribbean Beach Resort

A recipe in 3 parts!

STEP ONE
Bread Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 cup golden raisins
3 to 4 day-old croissants (about 12 ounces total)
3 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Place a roasting pan in the oven and pour 1/2 inch of hot water into it.

2. Scatter the raisins across the bottom of a glass baking dish. Cut the croissants into 1/2-inch thick slices and place on top of the raisins.

3. Combine the milk, whole eggs, yolks, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. With the paring knife, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Place one half in a plastic bag and reserve for another use. Scrape the seeds from the bean into the bowl. Discard the scraped bean half. Beat on medium low speed until well-blended and a little frothy, 1-2 minutes.

4. Pour the egg mixture over the croissants and press the bread with the back of a spoon to make sure the everything is submerged. Let stand a minute or two, pressing with the spoon once or twice, to allow the bread to absorb the egg mixture. Carefully place the dish in the pan of hot water and bake until golden and just set, about 50 minutes.

5. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven, then remove the baking dish from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or let cool completely, refrigerate covered with plastic wrap up to 24 hours and serve chilled.



STEP TWO
Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

4 ounces butter
4 ounces sugar
4 ounces brown sugar
4 ounces corn syrup
1 pound heavy cream
2 ounces vanilla
1 pound bananas, roasted and pureed

In a sauce pan on high heat melt butter, add sugars, corn syrup and 1/2 of the heavy cream. Bring to a boil and add remaining cream slowly, so you don't break the boil. Boil for 3 minutes, remove from the heat, add vanilla and pureed roasted bananas. Let sit to room temperature. Do NOT refrigerate.


STEP THREE
French Toast Bread Pudding with Caramelized Roasted Bananas

Yield: ONE DESSERT PLATE

3/4 banana (caramelize with brown sugar and butter)
4 ounces Bread Pudding (see STEP ONE ABOVE)
3 ounces Caramel Sauce (see STEP TWO ABOVE)
2 ounces French Toast batter (your own recipe)
2 ounces cinnamon sugar
4 ounces coconut ice cream

Dip bread pudding into French Toast batter and deep fry until brown, toss in cinnamon sugar and cut on a bias. Arrange on a plate with caramelized bananas, scoop of ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.