Sally Lunn and Hot Brandy Sauce

Sally Lunn is a recipe that has been begging to be made for quite a while.  It’s a yeasted bread recipe which meant that in order to make it, I was going to need some time.  Because I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, it kept getting passed over in favor of less complicated recipes where I could predict the outcome a little better.  My fear got the better of me until last Saturday.I was having one of those days where I just needed a win.  Tackling a recipe seemed like a good way to do that.  The act of making food soothes me.

I have been making bread since I was very young.  My mom had a hand crank bread “machine.”  She would load it up with all of the ingredients for bread and then let me sit on the floor with the bowl between my legs and turn the crank until I couldn’t any longer.  Afterwards, she would tell me that it was my touch that made the bread taste so good.  We would eat slices of it while it was still warm.  Butter melted into the soft crumb.  Sometimes we had homemade jam or apple butter to top off the whole thing.  I have recreated that experience for my kids lots of times.  We currently have rhubarb, cherry-lime, and cherry almond vanilla jam in our fridge.Sally Lunn is great fresh out of the oven.  The sugars that top it caramelize and create a gooey, but crisp crust.  The nutmeg adds a little bit of something without being overpowering.  The bread is enriched with the milk and egg and is a beautiful soft yellow.  I cut a sizable piece and slathered it with butter and split it three ways.  It was enjoyed.

So what happens when you have this loaf of Sally Lunn and it gets left out on the counter and no one really cares about it after the first slice?  I’m sure I’m not the only person this happens to and if I am, please continue to let me live in ignorance of my imperfections.  When you have leftover Sally Lunn sitting there drying out, there is no need to call it a waste and throw it away.  I would hesitate even going down the path of wetting it and placing it back in a hot oven to freshen it.  Instead, open up your fridge.  Look at the contents.  If you are like me, you probably have bits of odds and ends in there or maybe some fruit that is getting overripe.  Also, if you are like me and had just made Cherry Cream Puffs a few days before, you may have some leftover cherry whipped cream hanging out waiting to be used.

Don’t pull it out quite yet.  Instead pull out some eggs and some milk.  Crack a few eggs and some milk into a pie plate and whip them together.  Add some thick slices of Sally Lunn and let them absorb all that custardy goodness.  Melt some butter in the pan and add the bread sponges.  Cook until golden on both sides and done in the middle.  Now get out that whipped cream and put it on top (I added a few blueberries and strawberries).  Sally Lunn makes excellent French Toast.

You may still have some Sally Lunn leftover.  (Seriously, this loaf was huge and no one was very interested in it after the first day.)  In which case, go back to your fridge, grab that overripe fruit (I used 6 plums), some more eggs, and milk.  Chunk up the bread and toss it with the overripe fruit in a greased square pan.  Crack the eggs into enough milk to sort of cover the crumbs and fruit and add enough sugar to sweeten it and some vanilla.  Mix that together and pour over the bread and fruit.  Bake in a water bath at 350° until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  You’ve just made excellent bread pudding.  But bread pudding isn’t really anything until you have the perfect sauce to go with it.  I launched a search and found a recipe for Hot Brandy Sauce.

You may consider making Sally Lunn and letting fruit nearly spoil just to give you an excuse to make Hot Brandy Sauce.  The creamy, spirited sauce is nearly drinkable.  Before the sauce gets hot enough to melt the butter solids, it will look curdled.  It’s not.  As the sauce gets hotter, the butter will melt leaving behind a velvety sauce.  It is worth every single calorie.  If you have leftover sauce, heat it up in a pan and not the microwave.  It’s just a good idea with any eggy sauce.  (And I just had an idea for a Brandy Old Fashioned bread pudding.)

If you venture into making Sally Lunn, comment and let me know your favorite way to eat the leftovers.

The Recipes:

Sally Lunn

1 cup Scalded Milk
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup warm water
1 pkg dry Yeast
3 eggs
5 cups Flour

Mix together milk, sugar, and salt over low heat until sugar is dissolved and milk is hot.  Add butter and melt.  Mix warm water and yeast together until yeast is dissolved.  Mix all wet ingredients together, add eggs.  Add flour and beat until smooth.  Cover, let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until double.  Stir down and turn into a greased and sugared 10″ tube pan.  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.  Bake at 400° for 40 minutes.  Serve warm.

Want other cherry recipes?  Try Cherry Meringue Pie and Cherry Dessert.

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