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1. Will Kester says:

   March 14, 2007 at 3:13 pm

   This article, slightly edited, was posted in Helium, where knowledge rules. I thought you might enjoy it.

   In Albuquerque, NM, Two Fools Tavern is an authentic Irish style pub, or tavern, with a menu and cabinet of traditional Celtic/Irish drinks, beers, and foods. When it first opened, I knew immediately that it would be “my place.” The only problem was, they had no desserts on the menu. Tom White, one of the fools, said he wanted a dessert eventually, but hadn’t picked a dessert, yet. I typed up a recipe (I never use recipes) and gave it to him, to try. It incorporated some Irish ingredients, if not a true Irish dessert.

   Bread pudding is popular in the Southwest, and I have a pear tree, so I decided that bread pudding could be made with pears. This is the recipe I gave him, sort of:

   Cover pear slices with brown sugar, bake until caramelized.
   Cube Irish brown bread, spread in a bake pan, cover with pear slices.
   Boil Guinness beer until reduced to half, in volume, add a can of sweetened condense milk, temper in beaten egg yolks.
   Add lightly whipped egg whites to beer/egg yolk mixture, cover bread and pears.
   Bake until done, cut into squares, and re-heat before serving.
   Top with Bailey’s Irish Cream topping.

   The problem was that my bake pans and their bake pans are very different in size. So, they had to adjust the volume of eggs, from the dozen I put into the original recipe, and some of the other ingredients. They use apples and raisins, not pears, but it was a collaborative effort. They now have the best bread pudding, anywhere, and I take all the credit, every chance I get. Their brownies (using reduced Guinness) are excellent, also, but I didn’t have anything to do with that. Other restaurants have good bread puddings, but this fits their Irish tavern theme, and I felt included, which is what Two Fools does best, make the patrons feel welcome.