Sweet of the Week: Bread Pudding at Sullivan's Steakhouse

I used to like bread pudding as a kid... before I knew any better. Before I realized that many recipes were stale throwaways of old bread and filler ingredients scraped from the pantry. It's a shockingly easy dessert to make, and one that too often treads in lazy territory, so you must parson my typical dismay. I never really order bread pudding if I have a choice. And by that I mean, I never really eat it unless I'm in a banquet hall, or perhaps on a cruise ship? So when I saw the bread pudding listed on the prix fixe menu for Sullivan's Steakhouse's Valentine's Day Aphrodisiac menu recently, I didn't expect much. Fortunately, it way exceeded my expectations and served as the perfect punctuation point at the end of a fine meal. 

 

Sullivan's Steakhouse
Bread pudding a la Sullivan's Steakhouse



The bread pudding was a banana-Nutella variety, lending a flavor akin to a naughty late-night snack. It was warm, gooey, and hefty, served a la mode with vanilla ice cream oozing down into its saucy nooks and crannies. Altogether, it reminded me of my mom's banana squares, which I relish every time I visit. Points for nostalgia factor aside, Sullivan's bread pudding succeeds by baking just long enough to congeal all the cream and Nutella without drying out the bread or letting the chocolate-y components become too sticky. The pockets of banana keep things creamy and fruity throughout, while a bed of hot fudge serves as a nice dipping sauce. This is how you do bread pudding. This is how you rescue a classic dessert from the annals of stale yesteryear. 

- Matt Kirouac

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