How Otro in north Phoenix makes the best bread pudding
At Otro, the kitchen soaks day-old bread overnight in a rich custard mixture spiked with Sailor Jerry spiced rum, adding a generous dose of cinnamon and nutmeg for good measure.
Remember way back in 2020 when we were all baking banana bread and crushing comfort food like there was no tomorrow? Well, for me, the M.O. hasn’t changed, no matter the trajectory of the pandemic.
If you’ve regained your carrot stickeating virtue, look away because this discussion will focus on creamy, dreamy, probably-not-all-that-good-for-you bread pudding. And this version is so perfect in terms of both ingredients and execution that I crave it every day.
I found it at Otro Café, Doug Robson’s Mexican-inflected but not exclusively Mexican restaurant, where regulars are just as likely to eat a salad or bowl of Vietnamese-inspired chicken noodle soup as a taco, torta or plate of chilaquiles.
Instead of serving the usual capirotada — Mexico’s cinnamon-y version of bread pudding that’s traditionally made with piloncillo, raisins, nuts and cheese — Robson and his executive chef Carlos Diaz decided to get creative, playing around until they came up with this faintly fancy rendition, gussied up with creamy local dates from Urias Farms and crunchy candied pecans, which add texture and a subtle sweetness that arrives in waves.
Great bread pudding starts with outstanding bread
The pudding’s foundation — Noble Bread’s rustic country loaf, cut in chunks — is elevated, given that 1,000year-old bread pudding was traditionally a humble dish invented by thrifty cooks who needed to make stale, leftover bread palatable.
At Otro, the kitchen soaks day-old bread overnight in a rich custard mixture spiked with Sailor Jerry spiced rum, adding a generous dose of cinnamon and nutmeg for good measure.
After the pudding is baked in the oven, those chunks of naturally crusty artisan bread become crunchy and sticky at the edges and soft and creamy at the center, which is just one of this pudding’s many charms.
Served in a small cast-iron skillet, the pudding is still bubbling at the edges when it hits the table.
A drift of whipped cream, drizzled with glossy loops of rich caramel, melts slowly over the pudding’s surface, but this isn’t just any whipped cream or any caramel. Tangy crème fraîche has been added to the whipped cream to keep it from being cloying, while the caramel is Mexican cajeta, made from goat’s milk, which also lends a touch of tang.
Life is short, and I’m never denying myself a dish as perfectly balanced and utterly satisfying as this one. If you follow the same philosophy, run, don’t walk, to Otro.
Details: Bread pudding ($8) at Otro, 6035 N. Seventh St., Phoenix. 602-2660831, otrocafe.com.