Hi, Gentlemen!
Here's my recipe for the best bread pudding I've ever made. Just know that a great deal of it's mystique will quickly vanish once you see the recipe — so you might not want to share it with others and just let them think that you are a Bread Pudding God. LOL
Real Men's Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding
Buy a loaf of Sunmaid Raisin Bread (or any other good quality raisin bread), rip it up into somewhat smallish pieces and put it in a baking dish that's big enough to accommodate the bread without too much of it popping above the surface of the dish. If you have time, let the bread pieces get stale overnight and the texture of the pudding will be more interesting.
For the custard, you will need:
4 cups of half-n-half at ROOM TEMPERATURE
4 eggs at ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 entire stick of real butter, somewhere between soft and melted, but not too hot (we don't want to make scrambled eggs - LOL)
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl, then add the eggs, then add the half-n-half. If the milk and eggs are too cold when you add them, the butter will solidify, which still isn't the end of the world, but it is better if all of the buttery goodness gets blended in. Mix it up really well with a hand-powered egg beater thingy or a proper chef's whisk.
If you want, you can add nutmeg, more cinnamon or anything else that suits your fancy, but I've never added anything since there seems to be plenty of seasoning in the bread. You can also add nuts, dried fruit or sliced apples, but I'm a bit of a purist.
Anyhoo – dump the custard mixture over the raisin bread, smoosh the bread down into the liquid to get it all nicely covered (NOT soaked) and shove it in the oven for about an hour.
Just before it's done, the entire surface of the pudding will rise above the surface of the dish by a good couple of inches (like a good souffle) which is both exciting and cool -- but alas, it will collapse, so don't be disappointed.
It's done when one of the following tests show the desired result:
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Tapping the surface gives you a definite jello-like jiggle (it IS a custard after all)
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A toothpick inserted into the surface comes out pretty clean.
It does continue to cook after you take it out of the oven -- and really the only thing that's "cooking" is the eggs, so if it comes out a bit soft, it will still be good to eat by the time you're ready for dessert.
I have always served it right out of the oven, or you can microwave it for 30 seconds just before serving, Some people serve it cold, but personally, cold eggs (even in the form of custard) don't appeal to me. I understand it also freezes well if you want to slice some up to enjoy another day. Strangely, we have never had any leftovers to test this theory. Hmmm...
I used to make a caramel sauce from scratch, but once, when pressed for time, bought a jar of Smucker's butterscotch carmel ice cream topping and liked it SO MUCH better, I haven't gone through the work of making it from scratch again.
A little (or a LOT) of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum sprinkled on the bread pudding or mixed into the carmel sauce is a nice variation for a more adult dessert.
So that's it, guys -- simple but AMAZING.