This takes a while to bake – perfect for a morning when you don’t have to run right out the door for work or school. It could be used as dessert, too, although I’d up the amount of sugar or drizzle caramel sauce over it if I were going to serve it that way!
I had a half-loaf of failed ciabatta bread that was staled for this, and it will make a denser pudding than, say, store-bought white bread would. I like it that way, that’s how I grew up eating bread pudding, with the homemade loaves that would stale far more quickly than the ones from the store. When I say failed, by the way, I don’t mean it didn’t rise – I added too much flour and didn’t succeed in creating the wonderful, glutinous, holey bread I was trying for. I’ll give it another try soon, it’s just not a fast bread since it needs a starter that works for about 24 hours before you make the bread. It had good flavor, but my loaf wasn’t the right texture. More like French Bread. I’m out of practice for all but the most basic breads.
For the bread pudding it worked nicely, and yesterday I did French Bread Pizzas with it, which were tasty. So perhaps failure is the wrong word.
Ingredients
- Large half-loaf of bread, torn or cut into 1″ cubes
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp cinnamon (fresh-ground is best)
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp crushed ginger (1 tsp if using dry)
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 c dark brown sugar
- Butter for pan
Instructions
- Heavily grease an 8×8″ square baking pan, or a large round casserole. Preheat the oven to 350F
- Put the cubed bread in the pan, arranging it to make it more or less level.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the spices and milk.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over all the bread (I didn’t toss to coat, no room, but you can if you have the confidence not to make a big mess!)
- Pour the liquids slowly over the bread, coating all of it if possible.
- Press the bread cubes into the liquid gently with a spoon of spatula. Make sure all the bread is soaking up the liquid, dry bread gets rather crunchy.
- Put the pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove when top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Serve warm, although it’s good cool, too. Whipped cream is nice, but not necessary. I like it with some fruit on the side! The First Reader says “Is good.” but to be fair I caught him before his first cuppa. The spices are warm and an undertone to the flavor of the pudding, rather than overwhelming. It’s not too sweet, and the crunch of the crust (Which I prefer to a wet pudding) is a nice contrast to the soft middle. And it’s so easy to do. You can prep it the night before and refrigerate until baking time, if you want.
