Bread Pudding

I had some homemade bread that was getting to the stage where I would chuck it out to the birds. I had a look for things I could make with stale bread and came across Bread puddings. I’ve never eaten one before but have seen them on restaurant menus. To be honest, it’s never really appealed to me as other desserts seem far superior.

Anyways, I decided to give one a go. I went with this Bread pudding recipe. And I was very pleasantly surprised. It smelt gorgeous whilst baking and when it came out of the oven – buttery and vanillary with a hint of lemon and cinnamon. Flavours that go wonderfully together! It turned out like a custardy cake with a unique texture. A rich dessert that would be perfect for the colder evenings. Even though it’s Spring/Summer now, it got the ‘thumbs up’ from us both :-) So simple to make – I will be making this again!

I think I’ll try different fruit combinations next time. I like the sound of apple, raisins and walnuts. Yum! Love a recipe that is versatile and this one works with different fruits (dry or fresh) and the addition of nuts if desired. The addition of cream and soft light brown sugar makes the pudding more decadent. But you can use just milk and white sugar if you want.

I used the toffee sauce recipe from my Sticky toffee pudding recipe. I like a lot of toffee sauce with my puddings but if you don’t need a lot of sauce, just halve this recipe. The bread pudding would taste lovely with custard if that’s more your thing. Vanilla ice cream to go with the toffee sauce would finish it off perfectly for me.

 

Ingredients:

Bread pudding

6 slices bread, preferably a day to a few days old

30g butter, melted

80g (1/2 cup) raisins, or fruit of choice

3 eggs, beaten

475 ml (2 cups) milk, or a mixture of milk and cream

100g (1/2 cup) white sugar, or a mix of caster sugar and light soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of a lemon

 

Toffee sauce

200g soft light brown sugar

200g butter

300ml double cream

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175° C / 350°F.

Grease a 8" square oven dish.

2. Tear up / cube the bread into small to medium sized pieces.

Then place them in the dish .

3. Drizzle the melted butter on top of the bread pieces.

Mix it up in the dish to cover all the pieces.

4. Sprinkle the raisins (or fruit / nuts) all over the dish.

5. Mix together the eggs, milk (and cream if using), cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest in a bowl.

6. Pour the bowl mixture all over the dish.

Mix it up again so all sides of the bread can soak up the mixture evenly.

7. Use a fork/spoon to lightly press the bread down.

This helps the bread absorb the mixture and to coat all the bread pieces.

8. Put the pudding in the fridge for up to an hour.

This helps the pudding to absorb all of the mixture.

N.B. You can skip this stage and bake immediately if you wish.

8. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden.

You can check when it is done by inserting a skewer / toothpick into it and it comes out clean.

9. Let the bread pudding cool for 10-15 minutes.

10. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the toffee sauce in a saucepan.

Heat until the sauce has come together and is smooth.

11. Cut the pudding into pieces and serve warm with the toffee sauce / custard / icecream.