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This Disney Restaurant May Be Closed, But Now You Can Make Its Iconic Bread Pudding!

La Brea Bread Pudding
Credit: La Brea Bakery

Just a couple of weeks ago, the famed La Brea Bakery — a staple in Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort — announced that it was closing its popular restaurant, effective immediately. The news shocked and disappointed fans, who loved to hit up the bakery before heading into Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. The restaurant was also always crowded as Guests enjoyed fresh salads, sandwiches, and more. When announcing its closure, a spokesperson for La Brea said that the café was closing so the company could focus on its grocery division.

La Brea Bakery

Credit: La Brea Bakery

While it’s incredibly sad that we won’t be able to indulge in the delectable treats from La Brea Bakery in the Downtown Disney District anymore, they did leave us with a parting gift.

I give you, the recipe for La Brea Bakery’s famous bread pudding. Get your grocery list ready, because you are going to want to make this ASAP!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 22-ounce La Brea Bakery Round Italian Loaf, cut into ½ inch slices
  • 12 egg yolks at room temperature
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
  • 3 cups milk at room temperature
  • 3½ cups heavy cream at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 medium bananas, sliced
  • 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips
  • 3 ounces brown sugar
  • 3 ounces melted butter (for brushing the top of the bread pudding prior to topping)
La Brea Bakery

Credit: La Brea Bakery

STEPS

  1. Preheat your oven to 250°F
  2. Cut your loaf of delicious La Brea Round Italian Loaf into 1/2 inch slices
  3. Put your bread slices on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes — this will dry out the bread, which you need to do whenever you make any kind of bread pudding
  4. While the bread is baking — whisk together egg yolks and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl until smooth
  5. Add milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt to the egg and sugar mixture. Whisk until smooth
  6. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Set aside
  7. Remove the bread from the oven and set it aside to cool. You can turn off the oven.
  8. Heavily grease a deep 13 x 9 pan with butter. Place full slices of bread on the bottom of the pan to form a single layer.
  9. Cut the remaining bread into cubes and add to the custard mixture. Add the banana slices and the white chocolate chips, and mix until incorporated. Pour the custard mixture over the bread slices in the pan.
  10. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the pan and place another pan on top of it to weigh down the bread and custard mixture; let sit for 30 minutes, so the mixture condenses.
  11. After 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 350°F.
  12. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the pudding with the melted butter, then sprinkle the sugar mixture over the entire top of the bread pudding.
  13. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is golden brown and the internal temperature registers 170°F
  14. Let cool for 30 minutes and serve
La Brea Bakery Bread Pudding

Credit: La Brea Bakery

While the recipe says that you can cook your Italian Loaf slices in the oven to dry them out, you can also buy the bread in advance and leave it out on the counter for a day or two, and that will dry it out as well. Dried-out bread is best for a bread pudding because it soaks up all that sweet liquid you are covering it in. That means that the bread will have the PERFECT consistency after you bake it. This dish will also pair wonderfully with something like vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

La brea bakery

Credit: La Brea Bakery

Even though we won’t be able to enjoy La Brea Bakery’s fresh-baked treats, you can still buy their incredible bread at grocery stores around the country. Major chains like Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Ralphs, Shaws, and dozens more sell a wide variety of La Brea bread options. To find out where you can buy La Brea bread near you, click here!

We hope you enjoy this amazing bread pudding. We know we will!

About Krysten Swensen

A born and bred New England girl living the Disney life in Southern California. I love to read, to watch The Golden Girls, and love everything to do with Disney and Universal. I also love to share daily doses of Disney on my Disney Instagram @BrazzleDazzleDisney!