Pecan Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Camellia Cafe brought something novel to Dallas in 1991: New Orleans-style food—jambalaya, red beans and rice, muffalettas, and the like—at downright unbeatable prices. The food was outstanding, but the concept, billed as “counter-service Louisiana cuisine,” never quite took off. Camellia Cafe was tiny, with just nine tables and four booths, and some thought it to be a little too fast-foodish, as patrons had to queue up to order their food and then eat everything from paper plates and bowls.

The idea had been cooked up by Marc and Susan Hall, the owners of Amoré Italian Restaurant, Cisco Grill, and Peggy Sue BBQ, three other popular restaurants in Snider Plaza (an old-style shopping center that dates to 1927 and faces the campus of Southern Methodist University). Camellia Cafe was the only one of the four that didn’t last; Peggy Sue BBQ closed in 2020, and the other two are still in business.

In 1994 Randy DeWitt bought Camellia Cafe and two months later converted it into Michele’s Coffee Bar and Cafe (named for his fiancée). He’d recently ditched his career in commercial real estate and moved back to Dallas, his hometown, to get into the restaurant business. “I couldn’t believe it was for sale,” DeWitt told a reporter at the time. “The food was great and the space had such character. Camellia Cafe was one of those undiscovered gems that come around very rarely.”

The following year Michele’s morphed into Shell’s Oyster Bar and Grill, and then, under threat of a trademark-infringement lawsuit from a Florida outfit, into Half Shell’s Oyster Bar and Grill. More recently it was renamed Fish City Grill.

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Pecan Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

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Serves 8.

A reviewer for Texas Monthly once called Camellia Cafe’s signature dessert, Pecan Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, a “warm, wonderful bread pudding [that] has few peers in the city.” Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
• 2 cups milk
• 5-6 cups very dry French bread cubes
• 1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden or combination)
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• Whiskey Sauce
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon

Instructions

1

In a large bowl, beats eggs until very frothy with an electric mixer at high speed. Add sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, and milk. Mix very well until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth.

2

With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in bread crumbs and mix well, allowing bread to absorb liquid. Fold in raisins and pecans.

3

Pour mixture into a well-greased loaf pan or an 8-by-8-inch square pan. Pour any remaining liquid over bread cubes and set aside to soak for 45 minutes. (This step is very important; don’t shortcut the soaking time. Pat down any crumbs that float.)

4

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cover pan with foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for about 20 minutes more, until pudding is fluffy and well browned. Serve with Whiskey Sauce.