Bread Pudding

Everybody has their favorite comfort foods and one of my favorites is Bread Pudding. Only my Mom, Uncle and I like this, so we always get to have plenty since nobody else does. It's a texture thing, I think. I'll try any version once, but this so far seems to be the best plain one I've found, although if you have a sweet tooth, you might want to add a tad more sugar. Louisiana Bread Pudding is a little dryer and uses a bourbon sauce, which is another favorite. I took this recipe from Epicurian II, (fundraiser for Church of the Epiphany, Coon Rapids,1983). Surprisingly, if you like dark breads and specialty breads, they actually make a better bread pudding. I made this one with leftover Raisin Bread. A note on milk. While you can use lower fat milk, the result is runnier. When I don't have whole milk on hand, I use what I have (typically 1%) and add some cream or half n half. Alternatively, use the 1%, but you'll need to add some melted butter to give the pudding body.

Bread pudding with half and half; looks awful. Tastes great.


Perfect Bread Pudding

Shirley Yake, Epicurian II

2 1/4 cups milk
2 beaten eggs
2 cups bread cubes
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (just a tad more is better)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins

Combine milk and eggs; pour over bread cubes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into 2 bread pans or an 8x8 pan; place pans in 1 inch water in 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Note: you don't have to use exact sizes, but a deep pan will take longer to bake than a wider pan.

Doubling Recipe: When I doubled this recipe, I added a little more sugar (about 1/4 cup more) and an extra egg and then split it between two casseroles. This was actually much improved and our preferred way now.

Here's a link to a very good adult-style, traditional New Orleans bread pudding.
http://frenchfood.about.com/od/cajuncreolecuisine/r/breadpud.htm
Here's a link to a recipe similar to what I've made in the past (I prefer rum over bourbon). I'm still testing new recipes before deciding on a favorite.
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/reglouis/louisiana6.html