Food Network: White Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding

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White Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2006

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 2
tablespoons room temperature
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dried cherries
6 cups day-old bread cubes (1/2-inch)
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

2 ripe bananas, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons banana liqueur
Drunken Monkey Ice Cream, recipe follows
Chocolate Sauce, recipe follows
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Powdered sugar, for garnish

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush a 14-inch oval baking dish with 2 tablespoons of butter. In a large bowl
whisk together the eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, cream, and milk. Add the vanilla,
cinnamon, cherries, bread, and chocolate, and stir to blend thoroughly.

Set a 10-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add the 2 tablespoons of the
room temperature butter to the pan; once melted, add the diced bananas to the pan
and saute for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar to the pan and
saute until the sugar is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and
add the rum and banana liqueur to the pan. Return the pan to the heat and ignite
the alcohol. Once the flames die out, fold the bananas into the bread pudding
base. Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into the mixture and pour into the
baking dish.

Bake until firm, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on rack
until just warm. Place a square of the pudding down on the plate, with a scoop of
the Drunken Monkey Ice Cream. Drizzle the Chocolate Sauce over the ice cream and
bread pudding and garnish with the mint leaves and powdered sugar.

Chocolate Sauce:
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the cream to a bare simmer over low heat. Place
the chocolate pieces in a medium bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let
sit for 2 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla and continue whisking until the sauce is
smooth and thickened. Let the sauce cool to room temperature before serving.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Drunken Monkey Ice Cream:
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, cut and seeds scraped
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/4 pound white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup rum
1/2 cup crushed cashew brittle, recipe follows
3 1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, about 1/2 cup
4 teaspoons vegetable oil

In a 2-quart saucepan set over medium heat, add the milk, cream, vanilla bean, pod
seeds and the banana. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sugar and egg yolks and
beat, using a whisk, until pale yellow and smooth. Pour about 1 cup of the milk
and cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture and whisk thoroughly. Add the egg yolk
mixture to the saucepan and simmer gently, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be sure
to stir inside the corners of the pan. As the custard cooks, it will thicken, and
be able to coat the back of a spoon. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove the
custard from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve, into a clean
non-reactive bowl.

Add the white chocolate to the custard and stir to melt the chocolate. Once the
chocolate is melted, pour the rum into the bowl and stir well to blend.
Refrigerate the custard and allow it to chill for at least 2 hours before
proceeding.

Once the custard is cool, pour the ice cream base into an ice cream maker, and
follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to properly freeze the custard. When
the ice cream is partially frozen, add the cashew brittle to the base and continue
to churn the machine.

While the ice cream is churning, melt the chocolate with the vegetable oil over a
double boiler. Stir the chocolate as it melts to keep it smooth. Once the
chocolate is completely melted, drizzle it into the ice cream. As the hot
chocolate hits the cold cream, it will cool and form into shards. Continue to
churn the ice cream until it is nearly completely frozen. Remove from the machine
and place in an airtight container. Freeze for at least 4 hours, and preferably
overnight.

Yield: 1 quart

Cashew Brittle:
1 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup corn syrup
1-ounce butter (2 tablespoons)
1/4 pound cashews, about 1 cup
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

In a saucepan combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Set over a medium heat, and
cook until the sugar turns a caramel color, and a candy thermometer inserted into

the sugar registers 280 degrees F. Whisk the butter into the sugar, and remove
from the heat. Stir the pan vigorously until the butter has completely dissolved
and the sugar is a deep amber color. Add the cashews and baking powder to the pan
and continue to stir quickly to ensure that the cashews are well distributed in
the sugar. Pour the brittle onto a greased baking sheet and when cool, about 30
minutes, crack into 1/4-inch pieces using a rolling pin.

Yield: 2 cups of brittle