Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is a wonderful comfort food dessert, but it is not as straightforward to get right as I initially thought when I started testing recipes. I assumed you just needed to make a custard, pour it over some day-old bread slices with dried fruit in a baking dish, and bake it in a water bath. However, as I delved into the world of bread pudding recipes, I discovered that there are many variables to consider.
Among them: what type of bread to use? Should the bread be cubed or sliced? How dried out should the bread be? What is the optional ratio of bread to custard? How long should the bread sit in the custard prior to baking? How long should the pudding bake?
After much recipe reading, and more tests than my waistline would’ve preferred, this is what I’ve learned. Challah, with its eggy soft texture is the preferred bread pudding bread. The braided loaf does make trimming off the crust a bit challenging, but it’s worth it. To get around that problem I baked two challah loaves in loaf pans, which worked out extremely well. Brioche, also works very well, but is more difficult to find.
Cubed bread won out over sliced, as the cubes better melded in with the custard as it baked.
For the “dried out†factor, you want a firm, slightly dried out bread cube, but definitely not a crouton consistency. I started with a day-old loaf. About one and half hours before baking, I cubed the bread and let it sit out on a cookie sheet and this worked very well.
The ratio of bread to custard is a bit tricky and somewhat up to one’s personal taste on what a bread pudding should be. With a smaller amount of bread, the end result will be straight baked custard with a layer of bread. For a more classic bread pudding, a full loaf of bread, yielding just under two quarts of bread cubes is the way to go.
Among the most crucial factors, is baking time. Many recipes call for baking close to one hour, or until an inserted paring knife come out clean. After four tests of various baking times, I found that this is too long as the pudding will continue to cook and set when it is removed from the oven. My test for doneness is firmness, and a little moisture on the inserted paring knife, with an internal temperature of 175°F.
That’s it – everything you need to know about achieving a delectable bread pudding. To summarize: use cubed day-old challah (or brioche), let the cubes sit for about 1 ½ hours, use between 1 ½ to 2 quarts of bread cubes, and don’t overbake.
Bread Pudding
| Yield: 1 pudding | # of Servings: 8 to 10 | Difficulty: Easy |
Ingredients
1 loaf day old challah, or brioche, homemade or store-bought
½ cup (2.7 oz / 75 g) golden raisins, or dried cherries
1 cup (8 oz / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 qt. (32 fl oz) milk
1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
¼ cup (1.75 oz / 28 g) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
¾ cup (5.25 oz / 149 g) granulated sugar
1 pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, as needed
Butter, softened as needed for the baking dish
Raspberry Sauce, optional
Special tools and equipment needed:
- A two-quart shallow baking dish
- Roasting pan, large enough for the baking dish
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Cut the crust off the challah and cut the loaf into ¾†cubes. Spread the cubes on cookie sheet and let them dry out for at least one hour.
- Butter the baking dish. Set aside.
- Fill a water kettle and bring to the boil. This is needed for the water bath.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
Directions
- Place milk, heavy cream, and sugar in medium sauce pan. Whisk to combine. Split vanilla bean down the middle and scrape the seeds,
- Bring to a simmer, turn off the flame, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Place eggs and egg yolks in large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
- Bring milk and cream milk back to simmer. Temper the egg mixture by slowly whisking in hot cream and milk. Once about â…” of the milk is added, pour in the remainder and whisk until combined.
- Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a large container or 2 qt measuring cup.
- Place the baking dish in the roasting pan. Distribute the bread cubes and the dried fruit over the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the custard over and press the bread cubes and dried fruit into the custard.
- Pour hot water in the roasting pan until it reaches about ¼ of the way up the baking dish. Carefully place roasting pan in oven. Pour additional hot water until it reaches halfway up the baking dish.
- Bake until the top feels firm to the touch, and a thermometer in the center reads 175°F, about 45 to 50 minutes. The custard will continue to cook and firm as it cools.
- Serve at room temperature or cold, with a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar, and optional raspberry sauce.
- Keep in the refrigerator for up to two days.
