Bread Pudding With Variations Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk 3 eggs, white sugar, 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 cup of butter, and 3 cups of whole milk together, and gently stir in the bread cubes and raisins. Lightly spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and set in the middle, 50 to 55 minutes; cover the dish with foil after 30 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Let the pudding stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• For vanilla sauce, whisk 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, the flour, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 1/4 cups of whole milk,and salt together in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour sauce over warm bread pudding, or serve on the side in a bowl.

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.

Steps:

• Butter a 9x9 baking dish and put bread in it. Sprinkle with pecans.
• In a large bowl, whisk together half-and-half, milk, eggs, butter, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
• Pour the custard mixture over the bread and stir to coat evenly. Let the pudding sit for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until puffy and set. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.
• Serve with fresh whipped cream.
• Variations: add one large chopped apple (try: Cameo, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, or Rome); one large sliced banana; or 1/2 cup golden raisins. I think blueberries might be good, too, but I haven't tried that yet.
• Note: If your bread is fresh, toast it for 8-10 minutes on a baking sheet before you begin.