Do You Have the Recipe for Steve Wynn's Bread Pudding?

Our friends are long-time Las Vegans, many decades. We visited them last month and got to talking about what they missed most about the old Vegas. Marjorie (the wife) actually got misty-eyed over the bread pudding at the Golden Nugget buffet, of all things. But Herb (the husband) agreed that it was the best he'd ever tasted. What was so good about it? And does anyone have the recipe? Gerald (the husband of mine) loves bread pudding and I thought I'd make it for him if I could.

The Golden Nugget's bread pudding was renowned far and wide during the buffet heyday (Golden Nugget's was, for a long time, one of the best in town). It was, allegedly, made according to the recipe from Zelma, Steve Wynn's mom. Part of the appeal was the bourbon sauce and you can find both recipes below.

Wynn took the recipe with him to the Wynn Buffet, but he told an interviewer that the dessert chef embellished it with his own touches, including substituting regular bread with leftover croissants and brioche and adding some dried apricots and golden raisins. His secret, he said, was to soak the bread a long long time in the milk before baking it.

Golden Nugget Bread-Pudding Recipe

One 10 x 12 pan serves 12

Ingredients: 4-1/2 slices white bread, 16 oz. half and half, 8 oz. whipping cream, 8 eggs, 1-1/4 cups sugar, 2 tbls. raisins, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. vanilla,

Directions: Mix well: half and half, whipping cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Arrange bread on bottom of pan. Pour liquid mix over bread. Mix cinnamon and 1 tsp sugar together and sprinkle over bread. Spread raisins over top. Cover with foil and bake in water bath at 400 degrees for 75-90 minutes.

Bourbon Sauce

Ingredients: 1 lb. brown sugar, 8 oz. butter, 1/2 qt. heavy cream, 1/2 cup bourbon

Directions: Melt butter and brown sugar. When the sugar is completely dissolved, turn off the heat. Stir in heavy whipping cream and bourbon.

Serve warm and enjoy! And say hi to Gerald for us.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Sep-29-2023

Another look back at the good old days

God, that buffet was good. It was smaller than its counterparts and consequently offered fewer dishes, but the payoff was that all the offerings were of high quality--the opposite end of the spectrum from, say, Circus Circus Circus Circus's buffet, which, as a friend observed, was "cheaper than food."
I have no specific memory of the bread pudding, but I do remember that the desserts were fantastic. Wynn actually put a lot of touches into the Nugget that made it a cut above the other downtown joints. In fact, he wanted it to be a Strip casino that wasn't actually on the Strip. The Nugget's blackjack tables were the only ones downtown where the dealer stood on soft 17, a la Strip.

Bob Sep-29-2023

Sounds heavenly

Hope ol'Gerald is in good health, and not suffering from high Cholesterol, High Blood pressure, or type 2 Diabetes. Just sayn'!
also I'd change the Bourbon Qty to  1 Cup Divided   1/2 cup for the Sauce, 1/2 cup for the Chef!

O2bnVegas Sep-29-2023

water bath

I can't recall baking anything in a 'water bath'.  How do y'all do that?  Thanks.

Candy

Sandra Ritter Sep-29-2023

Candy

How to bake a cake in a water bath:

Tightly wrap the bottom of the cake pan with aluminum foil
Pour the cake batter into the cake pan
Place the cake pan in the middle of a large baking pan
Heat up water in a kettle to make it hot
Pour about 1 inch of hot water into the baking pan
Put the large baking pan on the middle rack of the oven
Bake the cake for 40 minutes or until the top looks firm
After water bath, cool the cake for 15 minutes on a wire rack
Carefully remove the cake from the water bath
Cool the cake for an additional hour at room temperature

Of course, from some googling :) bakingnook.com

O2bnVegas Sep-29-2023

Thanks, Sandra

Not sure I'll try this; sounds like about $500 worth of ingredients. 

But do appreciate the water bath instructions.

Candy

Jim Veith Sep-29-2023

User Unfriendly

Gosh it was hard to locate the Question of the Day on your new website! You would think my clicking on the link in my email would take me somewhere close

Eddie Maloney Sep-29-2023

Agree with Jim

The email for the QOD should be a direct link to the QOD page on the site, not the main page and we have to thumb around for it. I know you want the impressions but gezze, it would be nice a few things be a little easier. Please consider this as a request from a paying member.  Thanks..

Deke Castleman Sep-29-2023

QoD email

We hear you and we've changed the link from the email to link directly to the QoD page. If it doesn't work for you tomorrow, let us know.

King of the Bovines Sep-29-2023

Who'da thunk?

We get baking recipes and tips from LVA?

That's the great thing about this place - somebody knows somebody that has the answer to a strange question.

Heck, LVA steered me to Herbs and Rye years ago.  Never would have known about it if not for them, and it's a required stop when my wife and I head to Vegas.

You never know what you can learn here...

Gary Mason Oct-03-2023

Bacon

We used to struggle to get up early and take the strip bus downtown for the GN breakfast buffet.  For some reason, the bacon was exceptional.

Mike Oct-04-2023

Putting my mom to work...

My mom is currently making this recipe.  I'll have to fix and program stuff at her house, but I'll report back to LVA with results.....

Question of the Day - 29 September 2023

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