Sweet Tooth with Lucy Buffett

by Coastal Palate · July 2024

Lucy’s Favorite Salted Caramel Sauce

[makes 2 cups]

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, chopped into pieces, at room temperature
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions

In a small saucepan, melt the sugar over medium-high heat, whisking continuously. Keep a close eye on the sugar as it melts, swirling the pan occasionally.
When the sugar has completely melted and turned an amber color, carefully add the butter a few pieces at a time, whisking continuously. It will bubble up, but just keep whisking until all the butter has melted.
Remove the pan from the heat and while whisking vigorously, slowly pour in the cream. The caramel is going to bubble aggressively again, so be careful but stay firm with it.
Whisk until all the cream is combined and then whisk in the salt.
Set the sauce aside to cool for 15 minutes, then pour it into a glass jar to cool completely.
You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks, but you will have to warm it before serving.

Blueberry Almond Bread Pudding

Makes 8 servings

Pudding Ingredients
1½ teaspoons unsalted butter
7 cups cubed stale bread of your choice (I like to use brioche or French bread, and if I’m feeling terribly decadent and they are available, I use almond croissants)
¾ cup fresh blueberries
¼ cup slivered or sliced unsalted almonds
3 large eggs, at room temperature 2 cups whole milk
½ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping Ingredients
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
¼ cup finely chopped salted almonds

Garnish
½ cup Lucy’s Favorite Salted Caramel Sauce (see below)
Fresh whipped cream
Fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with the butter.
Place a third of the bread cubes in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Add half the blueberries and half the almonds. Top with another third of the bread cubes. Add the remaining blueberries and almonds. Top with the remaining bread cubes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour the milk mixture over the bread and blueberry mixture in the pan, making sure the bread is completely covered by the milk mixture.

Topping Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into the flour and brown sugar with a pastry blender or fork until coarse crumbs form.
Stir in the almonds. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the bread pudding.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the bread pudding is golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Drizzle the salted caramel sauce over the top and serve with fresh whipped cream and blueberries.