My family adores this rich and decadent Challah Bread Pudding with Kahlua Cream Sauce. It was also the favorite recipe of a dear friend who I miss very much. Every time I make it I think of her.
Those who read my blog regularly probably noticed an uncharacteristic silence lately. I haven’t posted a new recipe for a few weeks now. I’ve been receiving emails and messages from many of you wondering where I’ve gone.
First of all, I want to thank you for all your kind words. I’m doing fine. I just needed to hit pause for a few weeks. Some pretty major shifts have been happening around me, forks in the road that have made me step back and reevaluate my priorities. The blog had started feeling like an obligation, a chore. That was never my intention.
I always wanted my recipes and posts to reflect my passion for life. The idea was to share positive energy and my love for cooking. Suddenly I felt myself dreading it all—the writing, the photography, the comment moderation, the endless sharing on social media—all of the things that professional bloggers do to keep their audiences engaged and growing. It began to feel like a business, which is not what I envisioned in the beginning. I always wanted this to be a cozy cooking community, a place where food lovers could share their thoughts and learn from each other. Instead, I was fielding endless media requests and sponsored post opportunities and advertising requests. I needed a chance to disconnect and breathe.
Then I lost a close friend, and the disconnection turned to introspection. I’m writing this post from a vacation condo in Hawaii, in the very same complex where I started my blog on January 1, 2010. Life has a funny way of coming full circle. The day I started my blog, I was filled with excitement and a bit of fear. Food blogging was still somewhat new, and I truly had no idea what I was doing. But I overcame my nerves and pressed publish, never realizing what a strange, crazy, amazing journey this website would take me on.
Tori and Beth at Sammy’s Roumanian in 2010
A few weeks after I started my blog, my husband and I sat down with our good friend Beth Trachtenberg. We ate a meal together at Sammy’s Roumanian in New York City. Beth expressed to me how much she admired my blog. She was an astute and tenacious businesswoman, someone I greatly admired. I was excited when she told me that she believed I had a future as an important voice in the food world. It was gratifying to know that this woman, a successful producer and one of the smartest people I knew, believed in me.
Over the next few years Beth took on the role of mentor, manager, friend and confidant. She helped me grow the blog from a small corner of the web into one of the top food blogs in the country. But Beth was more than a business associate; she held a very special place in my heart. She helped my husband launch his passion project, a musical that he’d wanted to produce since childhood. She was there when I married the love of my life. She became part of our family. Like true family we experienced ups and downs, but we never lost that deep feeling of connection. She was a rare soul.
Beth speaking at my wedding reception in 2011
It’s difficult to imagine navigating the journey of my life without Beth. I’m not going to go into her illness here, because she never wanted to be viewed as a victim. She was incredibly strong to the very end, and I don’t believe she wanted us to grieve. Instead, I think she would prefer for us to remember her as she was in life… a two-time Jeopardy champion, brilliant and vital and warm and loving, smiling and often laughing hysterically. She was always eating something naughty and delicious yet never seemed to gain a pound. She loved Israel passionately. She adored sunbathing and traveling and binge watching great TV shows. She drank Coke instead of wine and had friends in every city. There will never be another like Beth.
In Hawaii remembering Beth
I had already decided to take a break from blogging when I heard the news that Beth had passed away. Five years after that fateful lunch at Sammy’s Roumanian, I found myself on vacation in Hawaii in the very same spot where this blog began. I took this past week by the water to recharge and connect with my family. I slept a lot and didn’t spend much time on my phone or laptop. More than anything else, I took time to mourn my dear friend Beth. It’s very hard to imagine a world without her.
Beth and Tori, 2010
I’ll be back with new recipes soon. Meanwhile, I wanted to re-share Beth’s favorite recipe from my collection. Beth enjoyed cooking and she never counted calories… just one of the many ways she lived life to the fullest. Whenever she came out for a visit she always asked me to make my “famous” Challah Bread Pudding. In loving memory of Beth I’m posting it just the way she liked it, topped with warm Kahlua cream sauce.
Note: You may see some comments below that date all the way back to 2010. That’s because this is an update of an older post; the recipe has not changed, but I have rephotographed it in honor of my friend Beth.
Challah Bread Pudding with Kahlua Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Challah Bread Pudding Ingredients
- 1 loaf plain (unseeded) challah bread day old is okay
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 quart half and half
- 6 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups raisins and/or chocolate chips optional
Kahlua Cream Sauce Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- Dash of salt
- 1 tablespoon Kahlua liqueur
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the challah bread into 1-inch cubes. You’ll need about 12 cups of loosely packed cubes. If you don’t have enough challah on hand, you can mix in any kind of light-colored bread to make up the difference (white, buttermilk, Hawaiian). Spread into a single layer on two cookie sheets, place in oven, and lightly toast the cubes for 7-8 minutes until they are dry and just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium. Toast the chopped walnut pieces, stirring constantly, until they begin the lighter colored parts of the walnut flesh begin to brown. Remove from heat.
- In a very large mixing bowl, combine half and half, beaten eggs, sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Use an electric mixer or immersion blender to thoroughly blend all ingredients.
- Pour the toasted challah cubes, chopped walnuts, and raisins into the liquid mixture. Stir all ingredients together for a couple of minutes until the bread cubes have soaked up most of the liquid. You may have to lightly mash some of the bread cubes down to make sure they’re fully immersed in liquid.
- Generously grease a 9×13 baking dish or pan. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the dish, being sure to scrape any excess liquid from the bowl. Cover tightly with foil.Bake pudding at 350 degrees F for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours. Take off the foil after 1 hour to let the top brown.
- The pudding is done when the top is brown and springy to the touch. The center of the pudding should be baked through, not liquid. Serve warm topped with Kahlua Cream Sauce.
- To make the Kahlua Cream Sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add heavy whipping cream to the pan, whisking to blend with the butter.
- Add egg, sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt to the pan. Whisk continuously for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Whisk in Kahlua and vanilla.
- Serve warm atop freshly baked bread pudding.
Nutrition
This bread pudding is unbelievable!!! Thank for sharing. I have made many people happy by bringing this dessert to them!!
I am so very sorry for your loss. May Shalom surround you and all who loved Beth.
So warm tribute… thank you for both the emotions and the dish.
This recipe looks awsome and I want to make it for my family on Thanksgiving! But ive never heard of the bread. Where can I find this bread at and if I can’t find it what would be a good substitute? Thank you!
Hi Kristina, not sure where you live but most bakeries carry challah, or you can substitute brioche instead. 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. We have a beautiful challah left over from Rosh Hashanah. I would like to make the scrumptious sounding bread pudding for the break fast next week. Is there any point in the recipe that I can freeze it? Should I just freeze the challah and prepare it next week?
Please advise.
And finally,Happy New Year to you and yours.
So sorry to hear of the loss of your wonderful friend.
Hi Amy, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I would recommend freezing the challah and preparing the bread pudding before you’re ready to serve.
I just made this and it turned out so amazing. My husband’s father would have loved this. He passed away last year. It definitely beat turning the leftover challah from Shabbat into french toast. I can’t wait to share it! Many blessings your way!
The recipe sounds great, and the story so touching. Food does trigger our deepest people memories, and you did an amazing job of sharing the love with us. Loved the photos, the one where you and Beth are looking at each other shows the special relationship you had. So glad to have discovered you…this is my first time here even though I see you’ve been at this for a long while. Sorry for your loss…and thanks for sharing.
Thanks Susan, I appreciate that!
I made this dish today…the sauce was delicious with this modification…used vanilla Kaluha, 3 -4 tablespoons, omitted sugar and vanilla. Can’t wait to serve it tonight!
Hi Tory,
I was wondering how to keep the kahlua sauce if you don’t use it all?
Hi Tina, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. The extra sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, I’d say no more than 3.
Hello Tori ,
My “comment ” has to do with Beth Trachtenberg …
In 1991 I was an actress in Paris and participated in the first Soap Opera “Riviera ” (co produced Europe USA ) and Beth was the at the head of the project ..
We spent more than a year shooting at a crazy pace ,and she was absolutely fantastic..!! Her sense of humour and extraordinary professionalism made us pull through such an adventure ..
I was simply searching her name today ,l miss her so much and wanted to get in touch .. your lovely tribute stunned me .. I should have acted sooner ..
I guess this is not a coincidence..it is a God’s wink ..
I live half Moscow -half Paris ..and have been trying to improve on my cooking as a new year resolution..!!!! so I will try your recipe ..
When you pray ,and think of Beth tell her about my little mail ..
Be well ,
Consuelo de Haviland
So kind of you to write Consuelo! Beth made that kind of impression wherever she went. She gave me and my husband a plant a few years ago– a small Malabar Chestnut tree. It’s grown quite large through the years. It’s right in the center of our home. Every time I look at it I think of her. Next time I pass it, I will send greetings from Consuelo!
Tori, It is always very hard to lose someone so dear.
My wife loves bread pudding and i will try this to surprise her. BTW, I recently made your marble cake and shared with friends and they all loved it. Thank again for your kindness to share your recipes
I was looking for a recipe. not a narrative.. While I am sorry for your loss, it is not part of a recipe and does not belong on here. Also, you list the ingredients then go on to do a narrative on how to prepare the pudding. i suggest you print the full recipe as many of us just scroll down to read the recipe; that is why I have and will not try it.
Hi Winston! Welcome to my recipe blog. This must be your first time here. I always share a story with my recipes, because food is more than something to fulfill our hunger — every recipe has a background and a history. The story is the most fascinating part to me. I’m sorry you don’t feel the same. But for anybody like you who might not enjoy the narrative, there is a “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of every post. Saves you the trouble of scrolling. And the “Print Recipe” button will create a printer-friendly version with no photos. Just the recipe, pure and simple, the way you like it. But it sounds like you’ve given up on it, because you’re uncomfortable with me sharing my friend’s story. Might I suggest some therapy? I mean, this recipe is fabulous. One of my very best. On behalf of my dearly departed friend Beth, who was brutally honest and never held anything back– your loss!
Wow, Winston! Your lack of compassion is astonishing to me, and Tori gracefully handled your trolling words much better than I would have. Sites aren’t created by machines, and while Tori’s kind enough to post and share (at no cost to you) recipes she’s developed (or those created by friends) and enjoyed, she’s still a human being. Tori, I have yet to try this recipe–it looks amazing! I’m sorry for your loss, even though it has been a couple of years. It’s clear Beth was not only a friend, but a mentor who helped you with the success of your site, as well.
Thank you for recognizing that there is an actual person who is posting these recipes, Bari. I appreciate the kind words.
Winston, Wow, just wow…I am appalled at your behavior. You mention that Tori’s “narrative” does not belong here. Well first off, let me say, that this is Tori’s blog and whatever she deems appropriate for HER blog belongs on it.
Secondly, you must not look at food blogs much because most of them do indeed have a narrative. See definition: blog -a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
Third, if you still can’t handle the narrative, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way off this site. 😉
Jeeeez!
Hi Tori,
Could you please tell me what you mean by ‘half and half’? Is that half milk/half water? The recipe looks really yummy and I would love to try it.
Thank you in advance.
Hadassa
Hi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! Here in the US half and half is made from half whole milk and half light cream. I believe it is known as half cream in other parts of the world. Hope this helps!
What a wonderful story and I am sorry for your loss. I am so anxious to try this recipe as I have not found another that I Love as much as my Grandmas.
Thank you, Jodie
Could someone tell me what half and half is, I am an Australian and have not heard that mentioned in other recipes if this recipe tastes even half as good as it looks I will be very happy. Thanks
Half and half is half cream, half milk. It’s most often used as a coffee creamer here in the states. For purposes of this recipe, you can simply use whole milk or a combination of milk and cream.
Oh my goodnesssss. Yummmm. So doing this. I have only just started drinking a year ago so I don’t know what kaluah (did I even spell that right?) tastes like, but I think I have smelled it sometime as I can imagine what it tastes like. I love your blog. I read a bit ages ago and just went looking for you again. I am sorry for your loss. She looks like such a vibrant woman and she was a real encouragement to you. PS You are incredibly beautiful <3
This recipe looks so delicious. I must try it. Thanks for this–recipe and blog.
I just made this today without the kahlua for the sauce. This is a very good and delicious recipe I also added pumpkin spice to the bread recipe and cream sauce. My family really likes bread pudding and have been asking me to make it at home. This is the best recipe by far when it comes to bread pudding it is going on my holiday recipe list to bake from now on! Thank you!
Very pleased that you enjoyed it Stella 🙂 pumpkin pie spice is a great idea!