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Maple Bread Pudding

I have been making this delicious bread pudding since the early 90s, but recently I made it with some leftover brioche. The results were company-worthy. Combining maple syrup, light spices, and rich bread into a mixture of eggs and milk is always appetizing but steaming it this way guarantees a light, silky texture.

Maple Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 325°F 

3 slices of day-old bread

2 tablespoons soft butter

3 eggs

½ cup maple syrup

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of ginger

Pinch of salt

2 ½ cups milk

1/3 cup raisins

Butter both sides of the bread. Leave the crusts on bread but cut each piece into 4. Place in a 1 ½ quart casserole. Sprinkle raisins on top. 

Beat the eggs, add spices, then syrup, and finally the milk. 

Pour liquid over bread and raisins. Let stand for 20 minutes. With a fork, gently submerge any bread that has risen to the surface. 

Set the dish into a pan of warm water. Cover the entire pan in foil. Bake one hour at 325°F 

This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings and is delicious hot or cold. 

Microwave Oven Bread and Butter Pudding

I first made this recipe in the early 1980s in my talking microwave, which had a 750-watt capacity. Today’s microwave ovens provide at least 1200-watts of power. I have made a few changes.  

Lately, I have been making this pudding with brioche. My husband brought it home from the local grocery store when he couldn’t find the fruit bread I had requested. Believe it or not, it was made in France and shipped to my prairie city of Saskatoon, which, ironically, is often called the Paris of the Prairies. 

It isn’t necessary to use such a rich bread but doing so adds a little pizazz to a very simple dessert. If you choose to use a sweeter loaf like fruit bread, cinnamon buns, or brioche, then reduce the sugar by a couple of tablespoons. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar, or less, depending on the bread you choose

¼ cup raisins 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt, optional

1 ½ cups of day-old bread, cut into cubes

Method:

Micro-melt the butter in a microwave-safe measuring bowl for 10 or 15 seconds. Let the melted butter cool slightly, then add the eggs, whisking immediately, to prevent the butter from cooking the eggs.    

Blend in the milk, sugar, raisins, vanilla, and 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt.   

Pour the liquid into a 1-quart microwave-safe casserole dish, add bread cubes, and let sit for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the mixture with cinnamon. 

Cook on power 8 or medium-high for 2 minutes. Remove the dish from the microwave oven and stir. Return pudding to microwave oven and cook on power 8, for 2 more minutes. Stir. The pudding will continue to cook while it rests. 

This quick, easy to make pudding serves 4 people and is delicious warm or cold. We like it with maple syrup drizzled over the top. This pudding recipe provides a soft, comforting food enjoyed by family members of all ages. 

Caramelized Sugar Sauce

I have many delicious sauce recipes that contain brown sugar but making a sauce by melting white sugar reminds me of my late mother-in-law. I now own the small cast iron fry pan that she once used to melt the sugar. I prefer a lighter coloured pan so I can see how dark the sugar is becoming. Sauce made this way has a toffee flavour and is worth the effort, occasionally.  

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of boiling water

2 teaspoons of cornstarch 

A dash of salt

1 tablespoon of cold water

1 tablespoon of butter

½ teaspoon of vanilla

Melt sugar on medium heat in a small, heavy saucepan. On a burner calibrated from 1 to 10, I place the saucepan on heat 4. Resist the urge to stir the sugar, but keep an eye on it because once the edges melt, the rest gets golden very quickly. This can take up to 12 minutes. Be patient. 

To the now golden-brown liquid sugar, add one cup of boiling water slowly, while stirring. This can spatter, so be careful. Let this mixture simmer until it is smooth.

Mix the cornstarch and salt into the tablespoon of cold water. Gently whisk the cornstarch mixture into the caramel liquid. Cook until the cornstarch begins to bubble and thicken. 

Remove from heat and stir the butter and vanilla into the sauce. 

Cool the sauce and pour it into a glass jar or jug. Reheat when ready to serve. This sauce keeps for several days, refrigerated. 

Note: Try using a whole tablespoon of cornstarch for a slightly thicker sauce.