26 Years of Award Winning Baking & Dessert Video Recipes

breakfast & brunch bars & squares cupcakes shortbreads breads youtube channel
about us
recipe index
substitutions
ingredients
glossary
conversions
weight vs volume
easter baking
apple recipes
pumpkin recipes
cranberry recipes
chocolate recipes
healthy baking
eggless recipes
comfort foods
blueberry recipes
biscotti recipes
pudding recipes
english tea party
trifle recipes
ice cream recipes
strawberry recipes
lemon recipes
thanksgiving baking
candy recipes
halloween baking
valentine's baking
christmas cookies
christmas baking
christmas candy
baking history
bibliography

 
Subscribe Now
 

Bread Pudding Recipe & Video

Printer Friendly Page

Pin It

Bread Pudding is an old fashioned dessert that had its humble beginnings in 13th century England. It was first known as a "poor man's pudding" as it was made from stale leftover bread that was simply moistened in water, to which a little sugar, spices and other ingredients were added.

 

Fast forward to today and you will find that we still make our bread puddings with bread but the breads we use are often made especially for this dessert. The types are wide ranging; from brioche, challah, croissant, and panettone, to French, Italian and sometimes even raisin bread or scones. And unlike bread puddings of the past, we now moisten the bread in a rich mixture (really a custard) of cream, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and spices. It is no longer a poor man's pudding. It is now a rich, creamy, decadent dessert that has made its way onto the dessert menus of many fine restaurants.

To make a Bread Pudding the bread is first cut into bit sized cubes and the choice of whether to remove the bread crusts is yours. The cubes of bread are then placed in a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan. Then we need to make the custard which is then poured over the bread cubes. You can add chopped nuts, pieces of chocolate, lemon or orange zest, a little alcohol, candied, dried or even fresh fruits to the pudding for more flavor and texture.

The one thing to take note of, though, is that this pudding is baked in a water bath. A water bath starts with a large shallow pan (usually a roasting pan of some sort) that is big enough to hold a smaller pan that is filled with a delicate food. It is best to place a clean dish towel on the bottom of the large roasting pan to prevent the dish from moving about during baking. Once you have placed the smaller dish inside the large roasting pan, hot water is poured into the larger pan until it reaches about halfway up the outside of the smaller dish containing the food. This is then placed in a slow oven. We do this because a water bath prevents delicate foods, like this bread pudding, from burning, drying out, or curdling (when a milk or egg mixture separates into its liquid and solid components). Just make sure to occasionally check the water level during the baking time, adding more hot water as necessary. 

Related Recipes You May Like

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding Muffins

Blackberry Rhubarb Crisp

Apple Crisp

Chocolate Pudding

Butterscotch Pudding

Bread Pudding: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly grease with butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 13 x 2 inch (23 x 33 x 5 cm) heatproof baking dish. Place the baking dish into a larger roasting pan that has enough room around its sides to fill with water.

Place the bread cubes and fruit (if using) in the baking dish.

Custard: In an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 4-5 minutes) (when beater is raised the batter will fall back into bowl in a slow ribbon). Beat in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Then beat in the melted and cooled butter and half and half (light cream).  

Assemble: Carefully pour (or ladle) the prepared custard over the bread cubes until completely covered. Press down the bread cubes so they are covered with the custard.

Prepare a water bath. (A water bath is used to provide temperature protection for the egg custard.) Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up sides of the 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Another way to judge whether the pudding is fully baked, is to gently press down on the center of the pudding. If any custard comes up to the top, the pudding needs to be baked a little longer. Remove the bread pudding from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.  

Can be served warm or cold with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and a dollop of softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Makes one 9 x 13 bread pudding (serves about 8 - 10 people)

View comments on this recipe on YouTube

Bread Pudding:

8 - 10 cups of bread cubes, cut into bite sized pieces

Note:  Breads to use - French, Broiche, Challah, Croissant, Italian, and/or Panettone. The bread can be fresh or stale and crusts can be left on or removed. You can also use day old scones.

Fruit: (Optional)

1 large peeled and cored apple, diced

1 cup sultanas (raisins)

Custard:

4 large eggs

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 1 /2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 cups (960 ml) of either half & half cream (10-18% butterfat), milk, light cream (18-30% butterfat) or a combination thereof

Variation:  Can replace 2 tablespoons of the milk/cream with 2 tablespoons of brandy or rum.  

Subscribe Now
 
     
 

 

 

New Videos

   
   

 
 

Contact Us   Privacy Policy

Use of materials on all pages on the domains Joyofbaking.com, joyofbaking.mobi, the Joyofbaking.com Facebook Page, @joyofbaking on Twitter, the Joyofbaking.com RSS Feed, the Joyofbaking.com email list the Joyofbaking1 YouTube Channel and any emails sent from @joyofbaking.com are entirely at the risk of the user and their owner, iFood Media LLC will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly resulting from the use.

References cited may include a link to purchase the referenced book or item on Amazon.com. Joyofbaking.com receives a commission on any purchases resulting from these links.

This website and the contents are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner of the "Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc. and is not related to the  "Joy the Baker" books and website. Video icons by Asher.

Content in any form may not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski, Joyofbaking.com.  Students and non profit educators may use content without permission with proper credit. 

A baking resource on the Internet since 1997

Copyright  1997 to 2023 iFood Media LLC