A woman in the line at Sahadi’s market told me about this recipe created by Rachael Ray. She raved about it and told me to look it up online. I haven’t yet made it, but it sounds amazing.
1 loaf panettone, cut in half (enough for about 5 cups, diced)
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups half-and-half or heavy cream
1/4 cup rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Vegetable cooking spray
Optional accompaniments:
Vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
Place a tea-kettle of water on to boil for a water bath. With a serrated knife, remove the side crusts from the half piece of the panettone. Cut into 3/4 to 1-inch dice. You should have 5 cups. Reserve the cubed panettone in a large mixing bowl.
For the eggnog custard, in another bowl thoroughly whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, half and half, rum, vanilla extract, and a healthy grating of fresh nutmeg. Pour this over the bread cubes.
Spray a 12 hole muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray. Ladle the bread/eggnog mixture gently and evenly into the muffin tins. The big cubes sticking up look nice. Place the filled muffin tin in a tall sided cookie sheet or roasting pan. Transfer to the preheated oven and carefully pour the hot water from kettle onto sheet pan, creating a water bath for the muffin tin to sit in.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes until the tops are nicely browned, and a toothpick comes clean from the center. Serve warm or cold with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
NOTE: Panettone is available in Italian specialty stores. If you don’t have a panettone, use raisin bread and add 1/2 cup or so of choppped dried fruit.
