Bread Pudding Recipe

Sunday was bread pudding day. We had lots of stale bread. I’ve made bread pudding about a ‘000 times, and each time a little different. Sunday’s recipe version was a complete hit! A perfect flavor balance. The 12 portion-sized ‘cake’ was gone within 45 minutes, and we were just 4 in the room! Needless to say, we skipped lunch…. :-)

So, let me share my recipe as you will enjoy it.

What’s to love about this recipe:

. the flavor
. less sugar than many other recipes
. easy to make
. uses up all old bread
. everyone will want some.

Ingredients

5 cups of cubed stale bread. I use a mixture of white and dark Italian bread, but you may use any bread you wish.

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2.5 cups of milk (dependent on how dry your bread has become and how much bread you are including.)

1 cup brown sugar (ignore that white sugar)

bit more than a 1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons of raisins

1 small apple

1 teaspoon of fresh orange rind

1 generous amount of vanilla extract

1 generous teaspoon of cinnamon (depends on how strong your cinnamon is; add to taste)

Optional: 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts.

I did not use nuts this time, but I usually add walnuts or hazelnuts, as I live in a zone where they grow abundantly. Pecans would be another great option.

On top: sprinkle powder sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. or 175 C.

Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan, although I used an oval stone oven pan.

Cube the bread and place cubes in the pan.

Mix sugar, eggs and milk in a bowl. Add vanilla, cinnamon and chopped orange peel.

Pour mixture evenly over cubed bread. Ensure that all pieces get soaked and let sit for 10 minutes.

Cut butter, apple and nuts in small pieces and sprinkle them evenly over the mixture and gently fold them in.

Bake for approx. 45 minutes until a fork comes out clean and your cake has a nice color. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Garnish with a slice of orange, and serve with a nice cappuccino!

Tips

1. If you have something like raison bread or Panettone, be sure to mix it in.

2. I find that chopping the bread in tiny pieces works best to get a cake-like texture.

3. By lightly sprinkling the cake with powder sugar before serving, your cake gets a festive look. This way you can omit the heavily sugar/calorie laden sauce that is often added. Because the cake has a generous amount of milk, you’ll find that it does not need a sauce.

Let me know how your bread pudding is coming out, and yes, of course, do send in pictures of your baking result.