Bread pudding

Clearly I've been working too hard - was it really February when I posted last? I'll be making up for it this week; I'm taking this next week off, and will have lots of time to cook (and write about it!) 

Today I made bread pudding. We're moving soon, so I'm loathe to buy new ingredients for cooking - I have a very well-stocked pantry that's going to fill a few boxes already. 2/3 of a loaf of bread was leftover from P's parents coming for dinner earlier in the week - the obvious dessert: bread pudding!  

Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. P likes it, but he's not wild about it, so for a week where I won't be bringing leftovers to work, it has to be something he'll eat, too (unless my goals are to throw it out, or to gain 10 pounds in a week). The recipe below, modified from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, is easily malleable to the individual likes and dislikes of the eater. I've added some notes at the end about using your favorite fillings.


Bread Pudding


32 ounces milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
9 - 10 cups (9 - 10 ounces) cubed stale bread
1 cup brown sugar, honey, sugar, molasses, golden or maple syrup
1 cup (6 ounces) raisins, dates, dried cranberries, dried cherries
3/4 cup (3 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan (a 9-inch Pyrex pan will not be big enough - you need the height of the sides to hold it all). 


Heat the milk and butter together over medium-low until the butter has melted. Mix the bread cubes, sweetener, and dried fruits/nuts in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, salt, spices, and vanilla extract together. Mix the heated milk mixture into the egg mixture until well blended; then stir into the bread/fruit/nut mixture. Distribute the liquid evenly, and pour into greased pan.


Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center doesn't reveal a pooling of milk mixture. The pudding won't be dry, but you don't want uncooked milk/egg mixture in it. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm or cool - great for breakfast!


Some additional thoughts: 

 - My combination of things was dried cherries and cinnamon - I omitted the nutmeg because I don't have any in the house, and I don't like nuts in bread pudding. Instead of the nuts, I substituted the near-equivalent amount of cherries for the nuts. 
 - You can also add chocolate chips instead of the dried fruit. I'm not personally fond of a cinnamon-chocolate flavor combination, though, so instead of that I would have added 1/2 tsp almond extract. 
 - You can be adventuresome. Think about what flavor combination you like - this doesn't have to be cinnamon-centric (think cardamom or ginger...mmm).