Myspecialbreadpudding Recipes

SOUTHERN-STYLE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• For the bread pudding: Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Put the bread cubes in the dish.
• Whisk together the half-and-half, 3/4 cup of the sugar, vanilla, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, salt and eggs in a large bowl. Pour this mixture over the bread. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a microwave or on the stove and drizzle over the top of the bread pudding. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.
• Place on the center rack in the oven. Bake until the edges start to rise, a knife inserted into the center comes out mostly clean and the pudding jiggles when shaken, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a rack 35 to 40 minutes before serving.
• For the sauce: Puree the berries in food processor. Press through a fine-mesh strainer. Stir in the honey and lime juice. Taste and adjust with more honey if it's not sweet enough for you.
• Serve the bread pudding with a drizzle of sauce. Garnish with additional berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

UNCOMMONLY GOOD BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream eggs and sugar together. Add milk and vanilla and mix well. Add Texas Toast. Let bread soak in liquid mixture until very soft. Press until all bread is soaked in the liquid mixture. Add butter and mix well.
• Pour into a well-oiled 8 by 8-inch baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Mixture will rise like a souffle. When golden brown, remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

BREAD PUDDING, WITH VARIATIONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set aside an 8"x8" pan.
• Mix together bread cubes and raisins in a large bowl.
• Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, melted butter and cinnamon in another bowl. Pour over bread mixture and stir in, mashing bread cubes with back of spoon to encourage them to sop up milk mixture. Mash and mix until bread is nice and soggy. (The crust pieces will hold their shape, but the cubes from the center of the loaf should disintegrate into a soggy bread mass. If there is more than 1/2" of milk mixture pooled on the bottom, you have too much liquid: add about 1/2 cup more bread cubes. If some of the bread cubes are still dry, add a little more milk.)
• Pour mixture into pan and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes This is a good time to prepare your custard, make dinner, or ponder one of life's great mysteries. You may have to lay a sheet of foil over the top of the pudding in the last 30 minutes of cooking to keep it from browning too much.
• Once it's set in the center (i.e. no longer mushy, but firm), remove from oven and allow to cool about 30 minutes until just warm. Slice into 9 blocks and serve warm, preferably with vanilla custard.
• Variation 1: You can use any kind of bread you want, provided that it is a yeast bread, isn't sourdough, rye or pumpernickel, does not contain savory items (like rosemary. cheese or olives), and isn't overly salty. Other than that, use your imagination! Whole wheat breads are best when mixed with at least 1/3 white flour breads. This keeps the pudding from becoming too heavy. Mildly sweet breads, or those containing fruit or nuts, are also nice (think raisin bread or cinnamon bread.) Gluten-free bread can also be substituted with equally successful results.
• Variation 2: Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts (hazelnuts are particularly nice).
• Variation 3: Substitute any type of dried fruit for the raisins (cranberries, cherries, figs, currants, etc.)
• Variation 4: Honey Orange Apricot Bread Pudding: Reduce sugar to 1/3 cup and add 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup orange juice and zest of 1 orange to milk mixture. Omit cinnamon. Substitute 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots (I prefer the darker, more tart Blenheim variety than the Turkish ones, but both will work.).
• Variation 5: Substitute 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips for the raisins. Serve drizzled with warm chocolate sauce.

OLD-FASHIONED BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In 2-quart saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and milk is hot.
• In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. Stir in milk mixture. Pour into ungreased deep round pan.
• Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Serve warm with whipping cream.

OLD-FASHIONED BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10x12-inch baking pan.
• Combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, heavy cream, raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a bowl; mix well.
• Arrange bread pieces on the bottom of the prepared pan. Pour cream mixture over bread. Allow to soak 10 to 15 minutes.
• Place the baking pan into a larger pan; fill the larger pan with water halfway up the sides of the smaller pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a small skillet over low heat. Pour into a small bowl; add confectioners' sugar and mix well.
• Remove bread pudding from the oven. Poke holes throughout using a butter knife. Pour butter sauce over the top.

SIMPLY THE BEST BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Butter a 13 x 9 x 2 dish.
• In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients except bread and raisins/cherries.
• Mix until eggs are well incorporated.
• Add bread cubes and raisins/cherries and mix until combined.
• Pour all into dish.
• Refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours, up to overnight (longer won't hurt).
• Bake at 350F for 1 hour, 15 minutes.
• Serve warm or at room temperature with sweetened real whipped cream.