Bread pudding is a very popular dish that originated in England. It's made, as you might guess, from bread — a white loaf, sandwich bread, or plain white bread all work great (I used sandwich bread). The bread should be well dried out, even stale; thanks to the cream and egg soaking mixture, it will regain its former softness. If you've already spotted a bread candidate for pudding, it's best to slice it and trim the crusts in advance, while it hasn't fully dried out yet (it's much easier that way). The flavor of bread pudding surprisingly reminded me of lazy dumplings — the same tender, soft texture, and the taste is quite similar too. So if you love that delicate cottage cheese dish, bread pudding is sure to win you over as well. Since the pudding is sweet, it's best served with something not sweet (I served it with sour cream). All in all, bread pudding is a wonderful way to rescue forgotten stale bread and end up with a delicious, satisfying, and unique dessert.
Ingredients:
- 12 slices of dried white bread (≈200 g)
- butter (≈50 g)
- Custard:
- 400 ml heavy cream 10-20%
- 50 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- Also:
- 50 g raisins
- 2 tbsp. cognac (or other aromatic liquor)
- For serving – sour cream, plain yogurt, tart jam, etc.
How to cook bread pudding with raisins
Pour boiling water over the raisins for 2–3 minutes to plump them up, then drain and drizzle with cognac.
Trim the crusts from each slice of bread, spread a thin layer of butter over the bread, and cut in half or on the diagonal.
Add the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla sugar, and mix well. If you're using a slightly sweet enriched bread, you can reduce the amount of sugar.
Grease a baking dish with butter (mine is 21×14 cm). Arrange one third of the bread slices in the dish.
Arrange the second third of the bread on top, sprinkle with the remaining raisins, and pour over more of the cream mixture.
Pour the remaining cream mixture over everything. The bread pieces will stick up a bit above the surface — press them down slightly. Let soak for about 10–15 minutes.
Comments