Cubed Bread Pudding or Wonky Bread Pudding

We bake our own bread, which means we slice our own bread.  To be honest, I am not very good at the slicing part so we end up with lots of wonky bits and heal end pieces.  


These bits get cubed up and put into the freezer to make croutons or bread crumbs.  At two loaves of bread a week, these can accumulate at an alarming rate into a small crouton mountain, filling a whole drawer of the freezer.  


As much as I love croutons, we were never going to eat THIS many, so I decided there was nothing for it but to make a bread pudding.  I Googled 'cubed bread pudding' and THIS RECIPE popped up.  It looked delicious but it made a massive bread pudding, enough for 10 people!  


So I tinkered around a bit and came up with this recipe for a slightly smaller cubed bread pudding:

4 cups of cubed bread
1/2 cup raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon - to suit your taste
1 cup milk
1 cup single cream
2 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350F/170C.  Butter a baking dish or a square baking tin. 
Mix the cubed bread and raisins and place them into the prepared baking dish.

With an electric whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together for about 4-5 minutes, until they become pale in colour and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, cinnamon, milk and cream and stir to combine. 

Pour the custard mixture over the cubed bread, pressing the bread down with a spoon.  You want each little cube to absorb some of the custard mix so leave the pudding to rest for a few minutes before baking it for about 30 minutes.

  
The pudding had been baking for about 30 minutes before I realised I'd forgotten to add the melted butter to the custard mix.  Drat!  I poured the melted butter over the top of the partially baked pudding, then sprinkled 1 tablespoon of sugar over the pudding and returned it to the oven to finish baking.


Bake the butter-sugar topped pudding for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the custard is JUST set. The pudding is done when you can press down with a spoon and no custard oozes out.  Serve while still warm.  Some folks like to add a bit of ice cream or pouring cream but I like mine just as it is, with it's crunchy, buttery topping still crisp from the oven.

Click HERE if you would like to see a video on making a Bread Pudding from the Joy of Baking.

Comments

  1. It looks simple divine - I love that gorgeous topping!

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    1. Thank you! I think the crispy bits on the top are the best part.

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  2. I love using up leftovers to make something amazing with - an emptying freezer space is a massive bonus! This looks great - could also make it with stale brioche or croissants (although what are the chances of having any of those?)

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    1. It would be lovely made of brioche but they never last long enough to get stale at our house. I've seen bread pudding made with hot cross buns, too.

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  3. This breadpudding is delicious and I was used to make it from bits and ends of bread when I was young and still lived with my parents. It was about the same recipe, after my marriage I never made it again. This post is a challenge to prepare it once again.

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    1. Oh yes! I think it might be time for another bread pudding. :D

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  4. Found you at love and a licked spoons's blog! This bread pudding looks delicious and it was only this morning when watching Unique Sweets, they showed a cook who makes bread pudding from cubed up french bread! She makes a custard with eggs and cream and butter, mixes in the cubed bread and fresh chopped peaches and spices and then bakes in muffins cups and serves with a sauce!

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    1. Lovely to meet you, Simone! I love the idea of mini bread puddings, must give that a go. I like watching Unique Sweets, too. It's very inspirational as is Debora at 'licked spoon. : )

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  5. Yummy! I always end up with lots of oddments of bread in the freezer too and I agree that the crispy bits on top are the best :)

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