Serious Eats: New York
Sugar Rush: Bagel Pudding at Russ & Daughters
There is bread pudding, and then there is bagel pudding. For the bagel pudding, you must head to Russ & Daughters, where the cut-to-order dessert goes for $4.99 a pound. Two choices—a chocolate chip-studded pudding, or a raisin and prune one. The latter is superior, always a few notches more moist than the chocolate, and speckled with plump bites of raisins and creamy, larger prunes. Reminiscent of Far Breton, a classic custard cake from Brittany, France, the pudding is composed of old bagels, chopped and baked in a sweet custard base—undeniably dense and filling, but in all the right ways. This is one of the few bread or bagel puddings that is best served cold and not warm.
Russ & Daughters
179 East Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-475-4880
russanddaughters.com