Key Lime Bread Pudding

This recipe came about when I owned Fishes & Loaves in Meridian, Mississippi. It was an eclectic mix of Christian books, music, gifts, stationery, and a little catering thrown in. One of my customers who was from South Carolina was having a dinner party. She came in to order some desserts to serve. On a whim, she asked if I knew how to make Key Lime Bread Pudding. I had never heard of such. She said she’d had it in some swanky place in Charleston and described the taste and texture to me. I decided to see what I could do with it. When I delivered it to her, I asked her to taste it and tell me what she thought. She said mine was better!! So here it is for you.

3/4 loaf french bread, cubed
1 large can frozen margarita mix
Juice of 2 limes
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray. Put bread cubes in pan.

In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, margarita mix, juice from the limes, sugar and condensed milk. Add eggs one at a time while continuing to mix. Pour over bread, stirring well so all bread is soaked. Let sit a few minutes so all bread gets soggy.

Put pan in a larger roaster pan, and fill roaster with water about halfway.

Cover larger roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Bake for about 75-90 minutes. Refrigerate for about 2 hours and serve cold, topped with whipped cream.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream with confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Chill and serve over pudding.

**One word of caution: The water in the roasting pan will be extremely HOT when you pull it from the oven. Be careful that it doesn’t slosh out and burn you. Also, since you are steaming the bread pudding, please be careful of steam burns when you remove the aluminum foil!

For more delicious recipes from The Hill Hangout, please check out our Recipe Index.