Sunday Morning Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding

This takes a while to bake - perfect for a morning when you don't have to run right out the door for work or school. It could be used as dessert, too, although I'd up the amount of sugar or drizzle caramel sauce over it if I were going to serve it that way!

I had a half-loaf of failed ciabatta bread that was staled for this, and it will make a denser pudding than, say, store-bought white bread would. I like it that way, that's how I grew up eating bread pudding, with the homemade loaves that would stale far more quickly than the ones from the store. When I say failed, by the way, I don't mean it didn't rise - I added too much flour and didn't succeed in creating the wonderful, glutinous, holey bread I was trying for. I'll give it another try soon, it's just not a fast bread since it needs a starter that works for about 24 hours before you make the bread. It had good flavor, but my loaf wasn't the right texture. More like French Bread. I'm out of practice for all but the most basic breads.

Bread cubes in buttered pan - step one. As you can see, this bread is dense and soft.

For the bread pudding it worked nicely, and yesterday I did French Bread Pizzas with it, which were tasty. So perhaps failure is the wrong word.

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Liquid all sucked up by the bread! If you like a moister pudding, add another cup of milk. It won't hurt it.

Serve warm, although it's good cool, too. Whipped cream is nice, but not necessary. I like it with some fruit on the side! The First Reader says "Is good." but to be fair I caught him before his first cuppa. The spices are warm and an undertone to the flavor of the pudding, rather than overwhelming. It's not too sweet, and the crunch of the crust (Which I prefer to a wet pudding) is a nice contrast to the soft middle. And it's so easy to do. You can prep it the night before and refrigerate until baking time, if you want.

Puddingy on the inside, a bit of crunch and chew on the crust. Perfect.