Yet Another Bread Pudding Recipe

There aren’t enough bread pudding recipes on the internet. This one is mine!

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of stale bread (ie; 1-2 day old baguette or Italian bread, 1-2 day old brioche)
  • 500ml (2.25 cups) whole milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 198g (1 cup) white granulated or caster sugar
  • 28g (2 tbsp) butter plus extra for greasing the pan
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice (can substitute nutmeg, or omit if not available)
  • 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Equipment

  • 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) baking dish (a 9x9 inch dish also works)
  • medium sided glass or ceramic bowl
  • medium sized sauce pot

Instructions

If you don’t have stale bread on hand many bakeries, patissieres, and bahn mi shops will sell day old loaves at a discount.

Cut the bread into cubes, about 2-3cm. If the bread is not dry all the way through, set it out on a baking sheet for a few hours on the counter or dry in the oven for 15-20 minutes on 300F (150C).

If using a whole vanilla bean, split the bean lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape the beans from the pod, and add both the beans and the pod to the milk.

Grease the base and sides of the baking dish with butter. Put the cubed bread into the dish and spread it around so it’s mostly level.

Add the eggs, 113ml (1/2 cup) of the milk, 97g (1/2 cup) of the sugar, and the salt to the glass or ceramic bowl and whisk well to combine. If using vanilla extract, add this to the egg mixture.

Add the remainder of the milk, the vanilla pod, the remainder of the sugar, cinnamon, and allspice (or nutmeg) to the sauce pot. Scald the milk by heating it on medium heat to 170-180F (76-83C), whisking occassionally so that the bottom does not burn. Remove the pot from the heat, remove and set aside the vanilla pod.[1]

Temper the egg mixture by slowly pouring the hot milk mixture into the bowl, whisking constantly. This will bring the temperature of the egg mixture up slowly while combining the milk, allowing a thin custard to be created without cooking and scrambling the eggs. Once the two mixtures are fully combined, pour the custard over the bread, making sure that the custard is evenly distributed in the pan. If any bits of bread poke up over the custard, poke them down or rotate them upside down to be sure that all of the bread is soaking up the mixture.

Leave the bread to soak for 30 minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350F (175C).

Put the pan into the pre-heated oven, on the middle rack, and cook for 50-60 minutes until set. If the top of the pudding starts to darken towards the end of the cooking time, cover loosely with foil.

Let cool uncovered at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and serve. Can be refrigerated, covered, and then reheated in the microwave (about 90-120 seconds) for up to 3 days.

[1] The vanilla bean pod can be reused to make vanilla scented suagr. Rinse it well in water, pat dry with a paper towl, then set it out at room temperature until completely dry. It can then be added to a small jar of white granulated or caster sugar. After a couple of weeks, this sugar can be used to add a subtle vanilla flavor to your recipes.