Bread Pudding - Personalization Recommended

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Jan 1st 2006 @ 9:21AM

cranberry bread pudding

I used to hate bread pudding, but I'm not sure why, since I hated it without ever having tried it. It was the word "bread," I think. "Bread" just does not sound like it should be a dessert. Ever.

Then by accident, I tasted it and I had a Come-to-Jesus moment. I realized the ignorance of my ways and converted. I love bread pudding.

This past holiday, though, was my first time making bread pudding, which is odd since it truly is a very simple, home-y dessert. I suppose I just never thought to make it because, well, we're Asian and we don't always have leftover bread laying around the kitchen. Leftover rice? Yes, and it becomes fried rice. Leftover bread? Not so much.

But I took a very basic recipe for bread pudding and added dried cranberries because I like them. The bread pudding was delicious, though I think I may add a bit more milk or cream next time to make it even more like custard. I may also add white chocolate chunks because it just goes so well with cranberries. The basic recipe below just begs to be personalized with other dried fruits (though I hate raisins so I just can't recommend those), chocolate, nuts, and even liquours.

Sarah's Simple Bread Pudding

Remove crust from one big loaf of French bread and cut into a large chunks. Some people say use stale bread because it's dry, but then your bread pudding will taste like, well, like it was made from stale bread. Use fresh bread and dry it out yourself. Spread out onto a cookie sheet or a large pan and dry out in the oven at 200 degrees for about an hour or until they are pretty much just naked croutons.

Whisk together 3 large eggs, ¾ c. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 4 c. whole milk (or cream or half and half – it’s your new year's resolution, you decide). Pour over dried bread and allow bread to soak for about an hour. Stir it gently every once in a while with a wooden spoon (so you don't squash the bread), or if you're feeling sort of sexy, toss it with your bare hands. One guess as to which method I used. Yes, you're right.

Pour half the custard-soaked bread into a very well-buttered baking dish. Sprinkle about a half cup of dried cranberries or raisins or both or whatever you want. Pour the remaining half of the custard-soaked bread into dish and sprinkle top with another half cup of dried cranberries.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for one hour, until it's set, which basically means that if you stab it, the knife comes out clean.

Try to relax and let it cool, but if you have no patience, cut with a serrated knife and serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Filed Under: Vegetarian, Ingredients, Drink Recipes, Methods
Tags: baking, bread, bread pudding, candy, chocolate, dairy, dessert, desserts, eggs, food, food and drink, grains, holidays, nuts, seeds, sweets, whiskey, whisky

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-01-2006 @1:00PM tr said... our family is asian, and my mom ALWAYS had leftover bread, and she would make bread pudding all the time. and then i got sick of it, and kinda stopped eating it. but after a long time without it, i've grown to like it again.

my mom always put raisins in it, which i really didn't like; i prefer the cranberries. i also prefer it more custardy than how my mom made it. i've done a white chocolate/cranberry version, but i find that having the sweetness of the white chocolate along with the custard kinda makes it too sweet. i like semi-sweet chocolate chips with the dried cranberries a lot more.

another variation that i remember my mom making was adding some orange zest and juice, making it a bit citrus-y. add some toasted pecans for a crunch.

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