Raisin Cinnamon Bread Pudding

I had 2 loaves of Pepperidge Farm Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread, thanks to the “Buy One, Get One Free” offer from the local grocer. The bread consumption was rather slow in the household, so I decided to make some bread pudding with some of the bread we have. =). Dessert is always welcome in this household. =)

I ate the dessert both warm about 10-15 minutes after baking, and found it alright. I tried it again when it’s completely cooled down. It tasted much better as the whole pudding has also set properly! The almond topping gave a nice crunch to the moist custardy bread pudding! =) … This recipe here is like a cheat, since my bread already has all the raisins and cinnamon in it ..=P

RAISIN CINNAMON BREAD PUDDING RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 11-12 Slices Raisin Cinnamon Bread ( I used Pepperidge Farm Swirl Bread)
• 4 Extra Large Eggs ( or 5 Large Eggs)
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2/3 Cup Milk
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
• 1/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 1/4 Cup Almond Slices (I love nuts….you could reduce this by half or omit this entirely)

Method:

Preheat oven @ 375F. Grease a 6 x 9 glass baking dish with butter. Cut bread slices into half, keeping crusts on. Arrange bread slices into glass pan so that it’s a compact. Fill gaps with pieces of bread if needed.

Add eggs, heavy cream, milk, vanilla essence and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Whisk all ingredients until well incorporated. Gradually pour custard mixture into the bread filled glass pan. Do it slowly, about 1/3 cup each time to allow bread to soak in the custard mixture. Gently push bread down with a spatula so that all bread is soaked with egg mixture. Top up remaining custard mixture to the rim of the pan. There might be some extra liquid.

Randomly dot the top of the bread with butter and sprinkle with almond slices. Place glass baking dish on a baking sheet (to catch any overflow) and bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour. Remove and let bread pudding cool and set before cutting into it! Bread pudding will puff up and almost double in size in the oven. It will then slowly “deflate” once you remove it from the oven.

You can serve the bread pudding both warm and cold. A scoop of vanilla ice cream would be delicious too! =)