Homemade Bread Pudding–Tasty Tuesday!

Last week while Little Miss was at Girl Scout camp, my husband and I took Mister Man out for dinner.  We allowed Mister Man to choose the dessert and for whatever reason, he chose bread pudding.  He’d never had it before and wasn’t really sure what it was, but when it appeared at the table, his eyes lit up.  We had to fight him to get our “fair” share of the yummy dessert.

So of course what did my son ask?  Mommy, can you make me bread pudding at home?  How can I say no to such a cutie.  So of course I had to make it.  Fortunately Mister Man also invited some friends over for dinner last night, so it was the perfect opportunity to make it – because I’ve never made bread pudding myself, so why not experiment and play when I have company coming over?  I ended up making an apple and raisin bread pudding (because ummm yum, right?) with a custard sauce (because everything tastes better with custard.

It was awesome.  Sweet but not overly so.  Not too rich, and not overpowering an any one flavor with lots of good textures.  This is definitely a keeper.  And hush, yes, I did have some of the leftovers for my breakfast this morning.

Homemade Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
7 cups French bread, in one inch cubes
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 cups milk, separated
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t salt
1/2 c raisins
1 Granny Smith apple
2 T corn starch
1/4 c sugar
2 t vanilla, separated

Directions:
Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes, and let them sit out for several hours or overnight until they are dried out and stale.  If you forget, you can bake them in your oven at the lowest temperature you can (my oven goes down to 200 degrees) for a half hour or so.  Soak your raisins in 2 cups of the milk for several hours in the fridge, which will help them get nice and plump later.  Grease an 8x8 glass pan.

Strain the raisins from the milk, and cut your apple into small bites.  Mix the apple with the raisins and bread cubes gently and place into your greased pan.  In a separate bowl, whisk the 3 eggs until well-beaten.  Slowly add the 2 cups of milk and then the brown sugar.  Be sure there are no clumps of brown sugar remaining, but know that the brown sugar won’t completely dissolve at this point and that’s ok.  Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 t vanilla to the milk and mix well.  Pour the milk mixture evenly over the bread.  Use a spatula to push the bread down gently.  Let this sit for ten to fifteen minutes, then stir it gently to get the well-soaked pieces to the top and the drier pieces to the bottom.  Let it sit another ten or so minutes, then stir again and all should be well-soaked.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Bake this for 40-45 minutes until the top is starting to turn very lightly golden brown.  The top of the bread pudding will spring back gently when pushed, rather than simply mushing down, too.  Let the bread pudding cool some before serving so that it firms up well and cuts nicely.

Yes, this is done a little too much.  I sort of didn't hear the timer going off, but it was still yummy!

While the bread pudding is baking, make the custard sauce.  Mix together the egg yolk, 1/4 c sugar and corn starch on the top of a double boiler (or very heavy saucepan).  Slowly add the reserved 1 cup milk while whisking, which will help keep it from getting lumpy.  Keep whisking until it thickens, which will take a little over five minutes once the water has boiled so that nothing scorches.  Once it is thick, remove it from the heat and add the last 1 t vanilla and stir until it is incorporated.

Serve the bread pudding either warmed or at room temperature, ditto with the sauce.  Don’t put the sauce atop the bread pudding until it is being served so that the bread pudding doesn’t get all mushy.  Super easy, but it looks so special and fancy!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.