Skip to main content
Epicurious

Simple Bread Pudding With Melted Ice Cream Sauce

5.0

(8)

Brioche bread pudding being served with vanilla ice cream sauce.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

Bread pudding is a delicious and satisfying way to use up stale bread, but it’s also an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert that’s worth making for a special occasion. I keep things simple here with brioche and a custard that’s gently spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Challah would also be a great option. The best bread for bread pudding is soft and tender—avoid using hearty sourdough or dense rye breads.

This bread pudding recipe gets its rich, nutty flavor from brown butter. You’ll use a tablespoon of butter to grease your baking dish; the remaining butter then gets cooked until browned and fragrant. The brown butter is incorporated into the custard once it has cooled. A touch of orange zest adds brightness, while vanilla lends sweet, comforting notes that bring out the warmth of the spices.

For a luscious sauce that requires barely any effort, I take a page out of Ina Garten’s book and melt a pint of ice cream to serve with the bread pudding (a.k.a. one-step crème anglaise). Keep it classic with vanilla ice cream, or try it with butter pecan, rum raisin, or your favorite ice cream flavor.

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
Sour Cherry and Campari Galette
This Campari-spiked galette features the herbal aperitif, tart cherries, and floral citrus zest and is perfect for those who prefer bitter to sweet.
Luscious Banana Pudding
Layer homemade custard, ripe bananas, and vanilla wafers under clouds of whipped cream for this iconic dessert.
Heavenly Halva Cake
Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.
Grape Dumplings
Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.
Dulce de Leche
Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.
Lemon Icebox Pie
Easy lemon icebox pie recipe with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream topping.
Almost Cannoli Galettes
Cannoli and sfogliatelle require complex technique—making them is best left to the professionals. But a galette-inspired variation? That’s a snap to do at home.
Jammy Grape Galette
We don’t bake with grapes as often as we should. But even the most average supermarket varieties come alive when roasted with a bit of sugar and seasoning.