Saturday, January 31, 2009

bread pudding with cranberries


and here is the bread pudding i talked about. i heart bread pudding. it's pretty much the ultimate comfort food. i will say, though, that the banana bread pudding with caramel sauce i made last year is still my favorite bread pudding recipe. next time i will try a chocolate bread pudding to see how it compares. i just adore caramel though, so it might be tough to beat. i did like this recipe. i love cranberries and i actually got this recipe at a cooking class my parents got me last year at williams-sonoma. it was a fun class to take and talk about a great gift! a cooking class where i can eat food. mmm. delightful. anyhow, this is the first time i have made this since the class and it's pretty darn good. especially topped with home made whipped cream. you really can't beat that sort of thing.


12 slices day-old baguette, cut into 3/4-inch
cubes

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

4 cups milk

1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting



Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Spread the bread cubes in it.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well blended. Pour in the milk and whisk until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Let stand, pressing down on the bread occasionally, until it is evenly soaked, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350°F.

Scatter the cranberries evenly over the surface of the soaked bread and press to submerge the fruit. Set the baking dish in a large, shallow roasting pan. Add very hot tap water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

Bake the pudding until a knife inserted near the center comes out almost clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Generously dust the top of each slice with confectioners' sugar. Serves 8.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Dessert, by Abigail Johnson Dodge (Simon & Schuster, 2002 ).


3 comments:

julia said...

what happens to these food concoctions? who eats them? why am i not closer?

UGGH.

Anonymous said...

...okay, I'd feel really creepy if I didn't start commenting.

if you couldn't tell, I'm rachel's (youngest) sister! and I found your blog ages ago and have been stalking it ever since. my classmates in london would routinely stalk your blog with me during class because you make the food sound and look SO GOOD!

in short: we would definitely buy any food-related book penned by you.

with hearts,
an avid follower.

Anonymous said...

This is really good with chocolate chips in it too! I like to put a layer of bread cubes, sprinkle with choc chips and cranberries,another layer of bread cubes and top again with chips and berries then pour the liquid on. Then the goodies are all throughout the pudding!