Friday, May 24, 2019

Maple Bread Pudding


I like my local supermarket, Hannaford’s. They are the third chain to occupy that space at the nearest shopping center, but it’s lasted the longest. They do keep stocking new foods, and there are plenty of healthy choices, especially among the vegetables, and I’m buddies with the fish seller.

But I hadn’t realized until recently that they produce a magazine called Fresh, which is free if you buy more than $25 of food (which of course I do regularly), and some of the recipes are interesting and the pictures are good. I finally read a copy, and decided to experiment with one of the recipes from a recent issue—something I’d never made, and a nice twist on an on old recipe.

Maple Bread Pudding

Ingredients:



8 ounces fresh or left-over bread (about 7 cups)
1-1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
2/3 cup maple syrup (I used a dark syrup, with intense maple flavor)
2 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 Tblsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

You can add whatever spices you like (cinnamon, nutmeg)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch baking dish (I used a larger round Pyrex one, and it worked fine).



After toasting
Tear up your bread into pieces about 1-1/2 inches in size. Spread the bread on the baking sheet and toast in the oven until the pieces a crisp (about 20 minutes). Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, whisk the milk, half-and-half or cream, maple syrup, eggs and extra yolks, vanilla, salt and optional spices. Add the cooled bread and stir to cover all the pieces. Let the mixture sit until the bread absorbs all the liquid (25-30 minutes), stirring occasionally.




Spoon the mixture into the baking dish and press into an even layer (if there’s any liquid left over, add that). Sprinkle the butter pieces over the top. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Ready to bake
Baked!
Remove from the oven and let the pudding cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before serving (so it will firm up just a bit).

You could serve this with whipped cream if you like. I also thought about sprinkling the top with demerara sugar before baking, to add some crunch.

It’s not too sweet, and the maple flavor comes through nicely.

Hey! The long-awaited next Museum Mystery finally has a name: Digging Up the Past! Now, as soon as my publisher and I put together a cover and a jacket blurb it will go to press, courtesy of Beyond the Page. I guarantee that you will learn things about Philadelphia that you never suspected.

2 comments:

  1. Never hear of this. I guess a bread pudding? A dessert? Can't beat bread and butter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUM! This sounds like a real winner.

    ReplyDelete