A better bread pudding

We’ve been on a baking spree since the lockdown started. Who hasn’t?! A video call with my mom made me so homesick, I decided to bake comfort food to assuage my feelings. We had lots of days old bread, (and a full pantry thanks to all the grocery delivery apps here in Singapore) and this was the easiest thing to make!

It also transported me back to happier, less worrying times. The magic of comfort food! I love bread pudding so much, I actually look for it at hotel buffet restaurants.

To make bread pudding, you need to make sure your bread is dry enough, slightly stale is actually good. You don’t need to use just one type – I used up all of the stale bread we had, you know, all the ends of baguettes that no one wants to eat, toasted slices kept in the fridge and forgotten, a mix of whole wheat and white slices, all of them ended up in the mix. I think the variety of textures makes it interesting.

Start by tearing the bread by hand (the jagged edges make a difference), and soak them for at least 30 minutes in a mixture of milk, cream, and eggs (full recipe below). Make sure to mix all the wet ingredients together before pouring into the bread slices. Preheat the oven by this time.

The secret to my bread pudding is the addition of marshmallows and white chocolate chips – plus the fact that I added a lot of butter. You can’t have enough butter.

Serve it with warm vanilla sauce. Because if you have to do something wrong, do it right.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Steps:

1. Cube all the bread by hand, into more or less even sizes. Place in a well-greased baking dish (rub some butter on the bottom and sides of the baking dish.)
2. In a large bowl mix the eggs, milk, cream, and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Soak the bread pieces for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade while waiting.
3. Start tearing the marshmallows if you’re using the larger ones, or use the minis if you have them. With the white chocolate chips gently mix them into the soaked bread. Use your hands, it’s fun!
4. Dot the top with butter. Add some more. No, that’s not enough, add some more.
5. Pop it in the oven for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and set. Here’s an extra step I did: halfway through, take out the baking dish and do a gentle fold over so the butter, marshmallows, and chocolate chips are mixed in really well. And add some more butter on top. Now put it back in the over to complete the cooking.

Let me know if you’ve tried my recipe! Have you been baking a lot too?