Just discovered some old, somewhat stale - though not moldy, thankfully - dinner rolls in the fridge. Probably enough to make about eight to ten cups of bread cubes.
My significant other has had a bad week and loves bread pudding. I’d like to cheer him up and do something with the rolls at the same time. Bread pudding seems like a good option.
But I’ve never made bread pudding! I’ve looked at many recipes - in general it seems basic enough - but I have no idea which will yield a tender, rich, flavorful, and comforting dish.
I don’t want to use raisins but other fruit is fine. I do have some fresh blueberries. Maybe some sort of sauce, too?
Make a custard as you would for French Toast, but you’ll want it soggier. Including berries is a great idea. With these, you could sweeten the custard with maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar rather than white sugar. Rum or bourbon are popular additions to the mixture, and a drizzle over the plated portion is a nice fillip - caramel, butterscotch, or maple syrup would work with the berries. Melted vanilla ice cream is always a good sauce for any flavor of dessert bread pudding.
You can also make a savory version, with shredded cheese, sauteed onion , and ham, for example.
It’s a pretty foolproof dish. You may want to cover the dish for the first half of the bake, to keep it from overbrowning, or drying out. If by chance it turns out dry, just drizzle milk/cream over the pan and let it soak in before portioning it.
I make mine with overipe bananas, and then add banana liqueur or Kahlua/coffee, and rum. If the bananas are firm, I saute them in butter and rum first. And as far as flavorful, I also add some orange or lemon extract and lots of cinnamon.
My first attempt at bread pudding was an acceptable effort. The blueberries worked, I added a small amount of lemon zest, and made a butter/brandy sauce.
Partner was very appreciative. Also, I managed to get this done before the heatwave hit - I’ve a suspicion I won’t be turning on the oven again this summer.
Oh, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t like bread pudding. (I don’t care for custardy French toast, either, so this is no big surprise.)
I love using eggnog in place of the eggs and sugar. The bread soaks it up nicely. Tuck in some milk chocolate chips and raisins in there. Also, white chocolate chips and dried cherries are delicious too. I’ve also made Nutella -banana bread pudding too. The yummy possibilities are endless!
Great idea, wish I would have thought of that earlier. Had an extra carton of eggnog that we just didn’t want to drink (had plenty) - would have been a great idea for it.
I make bread pudding with Hood’s Pumpkin eggnog but consider the nog as a sub for the sugar and milk, adding eggs as usual. Rather than bread cubes, I use pumpkin bread if available. And more nog as a custard sauce over the warm bread pudding.
