Blog

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. 

Versatile Lemon Pudding and Pie Filling

(From scratch, using flour, cooked in the microwave oven)

This filling is delicious chilled in a bowl, or served on a hot summer day from the freezer. Make it with or without meringue. It is also the perfect filling for pre-baked tarts or pie shells. 

Ensure you have granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, salt, 3 eggs, a juicy lemon, and butter. 

Instructions:

Place the following ingredients in an eight-cup glass measuring bowl and stir.

1 cup of sugar

4 tablespoons of flour

½ teaspoon of salt

½ cup of water

Add the following ingredients to the above mixture and stir. 

3 well-beaten egg yolks (set aside the whites for meringue) 

1 cup of water

Cook this mixture on high in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then stir well.

Return the filling to the microwave oven and cook on high for three minutes or until thickened.

Add the following ingredients to the mixture. 

2 tablespoons of butter

¼ cup of fresh lemon juice

1½ teaspoons of grated lemon rind

Set the lemon pudding aside to cool. 

Meringue: To make the meringue, whip the three egg whites until frothy and slowly add ¼ cup of sugar while still beating. Once peaks form, pile the meringue on the pie, tarts, or puddings, then bake in a 400°F oven for 5 minutes. Watch this process closely. Meringue browns very quickly. Once cooked, cool the treats and refrigerate.  

Tips for Making Perfect Pre-baked Tart Shells:

Start by making your favourite pastry recipe. This time, I made my Vintage Hot Water Pastry. Roll the pastry, cut it into circles, fill a tart pan with pastry circles, and bake the shells or freeze them, uncooked, for another day.

When ready to bake the tart shells, place a paper cupcake liner inside each raw pastry shell and cover the liner with pie weights. I own clay pie weights, but some people use dried beans. When I bake pastry shells without filling, I bake them in a preheated 425° F oven for 10 minutes. Then, I carefully remove the liners with the weights and return the shells to the oven for 5 minutes. Set the shells aside to cool before filling. 

Generously fill each shell with lemon pie filling. Top with meringue. Place the tarts in a 425° F oven for 5 minutes. Check the tarts after 4 minutes to avoid over-browning. 

Confession: These tarts freeze beautifully and are delicious served right from the freezer. As shown above, I ate this frozen tart!

Ideas:

Put filling in an oven-proof custard cup, top with meringue, and bake as you would for meringue-topped tarts. This pudding is delicious without a pastry base. 

Serve the filling in small glass bowls for a taste change after a heavy meal. It is particularly refreshing on a hot day or when recuperating from a cold or other illness. 

As some of you know, my husband has Crohn's, and he enjoys eating this treat right from the freezer when he is recuperating from a difficult time. I freeze the pudding in small containers. He eats it slowly, scraping pudding curls from the top. He lets the refreshing frozen pudding melt on his tongue. 

Best Ever Microwaved Rice Pudding

I have been making this recipe since the early 1980s.

I have a 1200 watt microwave oven, and I cook this recipe at Power 8. 

Your plain rice can be cooked in your preferred way: steamer, pressure cooker, stovetop, microwave, or conventional oven.

Ingredients:

3 beaten eggs

2 cups of milk

1/3 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

½ teaspoon of salt

2 cups of cooked rice

½ cup of raisins 

Ground cinnamon and nutmeg

Method:

In a 2-quart casserole, combine eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. To this, add raisins and rice. Stir.

Microwave this mixture uncovered on medium power for 8 to 9 minutes, just until thickened. I usually cook this in segments of 2 minutes, stirring each time the beeper goes. This way, I can’t forget. It usually takes 9 minutes on power 8 to finish cooking. 

Do not stir the pudding after the last minute. Instead, remove the pudding from the microwave oven, sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg, and let stand for 30 minutes before serving. It can be served warm or cold. Refrigerate after the thirty-minute sit time.    

Vintage Half Hour Pudding

My husband, the boy from the Get a Bigger Wagon stories, truly loves this pudding. He keeps the leftovers in the fridge and happily warms further servings in the microwave. He assures me that this pudding keeps well for three days. 

I found the original recipe, written in fountain pen, in my mother’s personal cookbook, which she started in 1947. The recipe called for butter “the size of an egg” to be added to the sauce. I use two tablespoons of butter. My mother had made a note in the margin of her recipe saying that 2 cups of water was too much. My father preferred a more sticky pudding. I use 1¾ cups of water and like the resulting thicker sauce. 

This pudding cooks at 350°F for 30 minutes, so I often bake other dishes at the same time. For example, my Oven-Baked Rice Medley requires the same time and temperature. 

I keep this recipe handy, in case we spontaneously invite guests to stay for dinner. It serves six to eight people. 

Vintage Half Hour Pudding

Preheat oven to 350° F

Pudding:

1 cup of flour

¾ of a cup of white sugar

½ cup of milk

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

½ cup of dates, chopped

Mix the above ingredients and spoon into a greased dish (1.5 quarts). 

Sauce:

1 cup of brown sugar

1¾ cups of boiling water 

2 tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Pour the sauce over the batter, and place the dish in a 350°F oven. Bake the pudding for 30 minutes. The pudding will rise through the sauce allowing yummy delicious caramel taste to surround each bite. 

L to R Vintage Half Hour Pudding, pork chops, baked rice in broth  

Steamed Apple Date Pudding

Ingredients:

1 egg

¼ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of maple syrup

½ cup of milk

1½ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

¼ cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces

½ cup of chopped dates

1½ cups of peeled apples, chopped

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg, and add the sugar, maple syrup, and milk. In another bowl, whisk the flour, salt, soda, and spices together. Add the dry mixture to the egg mixture, and beat well. Stir in the butter pieces, dates, and apples.

Pour the batter into a well-greased mould or heatproof bowl. Cover tightly with greased foil, parchment paper, or pudding mould lid. Tie the cover securely with string, or clamp the lid in place. A pyrex bowl, covered in parchment paper that is secured with string would work, if you don't have access to a pudding mould. My grandmother steamed her pudding in glass jars, with wax paper tied over each. This enabled her to, later, reheat smaller portions, at one time. My own mother steamed puddings in coffee tins.   

Gently place the mould on a rack or a metal jar lid, to keep it slightly away from the bottom of the pot. Pour enough water around the pudding to come about two inches up the sides of the pot. Cover the pot and allow the pudding to steam for at least two hours, adding more water as necessary, to maintain the water level. I usually steam this recipe for 2 hours and 15 minutes. This isn’t a precise science. Steamed puddings are very forgiving. Centuries ago, women made steamed puddings over an open fire, and eventually on top of wood stoves. I expect you could steam a pudding on any single source of heat, even a barbeque.

I happen to own a broth pot with a basket inside, and I have collected professional pudding moulds. There is no need for this, but I enjoy serving shaped puddings. To make a pretty pudding without all of the expense, use a metal or glass jelly mould. As long as you tie foil or parchment paper over the top of the pudding, your results will be satisfying. 

After your pudding is cooked, and you have gently lifted it from the pot, remove the lid or parchment paper. Let the pudding cool on the counter for fifteen minutes. Invert the pan, and let the pudding finish cooling. My puddings slide out easily as soon as I invert them. I leave them, exposed to the air, to cool completely.   

Serve the resulting pudding, hot, with your favourite sauce.

The cooled pudding may be wrapped well, in foil, and frozen for later use. To reheat, leave the pudding wrapped in foil, and place it in a 350°F oven for one hour. Or, place the pudding on a rack in a saucepan, pour in two inches of boiling water, cover the pot, and steam for 1 hour. Serve this pudding with your favourite sauce.  

Maureen Haddock's Butter Tart Sauce would be a nice choice.   

The Boy's Favourite Homemade Butterscotch Pudding

The Boy considers this pudding to be almost as tasty as his favourite cookies. 

Step One:

1 ½ cups brown sugar, light or dark

¼ cup cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

Whisk the above ingredients, together, in a medium-sized saucepan.

Step Two: 

3 cups whole milk

4 large egg yolks

Have 2 tablespoons of butter measured and set aside.

Whisk milk and eggs, together.  Add mixture to the dry ingredients in the saucepan.

Stir the blended mixture, in the medium saucepan, over medium heat, until it thickens. This should take about ten minutes.

Step Three:

Once thickened, add the 2 tablespoons of butter, that was set aside earlier. Stir. Divide the pudding between bowls and chill at least one hour, or longer.

Serving Tips:

I often use teacups as serving dishes. Stackable cups make for easy storage. Teacups with saucers allow for a place to rest your spoon and a small cookie.