Figuring out what I wanna be when I grow up.
Oop..I AM grown up...

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Tired Gourmet: Bye Bye Bread Pudding

Bread pudding?!?  you say, why the $&#*! would I want to make bread pudding?  Isn't that the kind of thing my GRANDMAW used to make??? 

You are correct!  It is one of those old fashioned kinds of desserts.  It's also simple, completely delicious, warm and snuggy on a cold miserable day, and perfectly suitable for us to make because we are LAZY. 

Let's face it--we go through a ton of cinnamon raisin bread in this house since it's 1 of 7 foods my son will eat.  However, the end pieces, apparently, are inedible, so I save them up, let them dry out, and when I have enough--voila--bread pudding.  I make it fairly often, because my sister digs it too.

Recently, the lovely and charming Matt and Paula dropped by for dinner, with their cutie pie kiddos, and I forced this on them served it to them for dessert.  If you read this blog enough, you'll recognise Matt and Paula as faithful friends and commentors on my posts, and you'll also know how hilarious they can be.  Plus, I've known Matt for FREAKING EVER.  Aw, don't you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now?  GOOD, then you can make this WARM FUZZY DESSERT! (note, dessert is usually served warm, but is not actually fuzzy).

Bye Bye Bread Pudding (aptly named, because it disappears, hyuk, hyuk)

1) 7-10 slices of dried out cinnamon raisin bread (7 if the loaf is regular sized, 10 if the slices are small)
2) 1/4 cup melted butter

3) 4 eggs
4) 2 1/2 cups milk
5) 1/2 cup white sugar, plus a little for sprinkling on top
6) 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract *
7) table cream (your choice of how much fat you want in it)

* hey, why is karen a snob, and only uses real vanilla extract?  One, it tastes better, TWO, read the ingredients on the phony stuff, THREE, it tastes better, so splurge.  Seriously.

Butter an 8 inch square or 1.5 litre baking dish.  Rip stale bread into small, bite-sized pieces.  Drizzle melted butter over bread, and toss to coat.

In a large enough mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla, and whisk till blended.  Pour over bread, and push top pieces down gently to immerse in the mixture.  Set aside until you're read to bake, so the bread can soak up all that liquid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 1 hour, or until pudding is no longer wobbly when you shake it around.  Or, if you like it more moist in the centre, you can bake it until it is still slightly wobbly. 

Serve warm with a drizzle of cream.  I guess you could use ice cream if you want, there's noone to stop you.  Enjoy the simple tastes of butter, sugar and vanilla.  Yummy.

Optional:  sprinkle top of pudding with a little white sugar just before baking.

What a mess.  Better clean up work space first...

okay-I've got everything I need...milk, butter, eggs, bread, sugar, sprouts...

ha ha, just kidding--no sprouts.

butter, butter, butter...

rippity rip...

mmm....mug o'melted, don't drink it.

look at that whisking action!

pour...*yawn* This is so easy it's almost boring

pat, let it sit and soak up thegoodness before you lightly sugar it and bake it!

and I ask you:  is that NOT pretty?!?

look how happy it made my sister feel
ooo!  The lovely and charming MATT & PAULA! (curse these shaky hands!)




  1. That looks delicious! I love that there are raisins in it. I'm going to try it out.

  2. i never had bread pudding before, usually if it doesn't contain chocolate it is not dessert! but that pudding was delish. i don't bake but that is so easy i have no excuse.

  3. Karen this looks so good and I am going to make it!! I am always looking for new easy recipes!
    THe photos are sooo funny !!!

    I still have to post about my award ...don't worry its coming!

    Yes I have alot of beautiful old photos of my Italian grandparents and mom in Italy. I have their wedding photo which is awesome.
    I also have some of the Corfields as well!

  4. It is delicious, Clarissa! What I like is that a lot of recipes call for adding raisins in separately, but since I'm lazy--they're already in the bread.

  5. Paula, if it's too fiddly, I just won't usually make it...well, most of the time at least.

  6. you should do a post on old photos Pam, that would be neat. Yes, this is an easy one, and Aimee and her girls just love it.

  7. you tricky little minx with the sprouts.

  8. Karen I too am a snob about Vanilla. Did you know you can get excellent vanilla and other get spices at Winners and HomeSense? Way cheaper too!

  9. Har har har...Sherilin liked the sprouts joke. What a cheap attempt at humour on my part, but I still cracked me up.

    Sprouts are yummy quartered and stir fried btw

  10. thanks for the tip Pam--I will keep that in mind! Actually, I'm quite lucky because my mother-in-law got me vanilla from the Price Club. They also have an excellent price.

  11. Never thought bread pudding could look so yummy! I liked the sprouts too -very funny. And it was great to see you Matt and your lovely wife Paula! I'm jealous that I can't drop in for some pudding! - Christy

  12. yeah--too bad you didn't live right around the corner! You'll just have to come up for more Canadian mini-vacations.

  13. That looks really good.
    I don't know why but every year there is a time when I get in a bread pudding craze. Never enough condensed milk, or vanilla extract on hand.
    You may have preempted my craze.
    It usually only lasts a few weeks, then I won't eat any the rest of the year.

  14. what an interesting yearly craze Bennet--it's explainable here because it's STUPID COLD. I probably won't be making it in the summer.

    I get the same kind of craze for KFC, then feel so disgusting after eating it, that I don't eat it again for ages and ages.

  15. You are so right, bread pudding is so easy to make! I just did a post on it the other night, too! Pumpkin Bread, with a Butterscotch Sauce drizzled on top.... Yumm! ...oh, and we love walnuts around here, way more than raisins-the crunch makes it even better!
    Check out my blog for a simple bread pudding recipe, too!

  16. Victoria--your bread pudding sounds fabulous. All you have to say is "pumpkin" and my husband will stampede over people to get to it. I can't wait to check it out. I like nuts too, but find a lot of people are very iffy about them--coconut too (which I love).
    I don't mind the raisins in this because they already came with the bread, so they're not nearly as noticeable.

  17. Are all your houseguests so darn good-looking?




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