I absolutely love bread pudding. If you have never had bread pudding, it reminds me of a thick sweet French toast in a way. Since my daughter and I are the only ones in my family that do like it, it is not something I make very often. I got the idea to use Brioche bread after having it at a local restaurant. The restaurant also served it with a bourbon sauce which I had intended to make, but it is so good as is that I never bothered.
This recipe does not have to include raisins if you are not fond of them. However, if you do like raisins you may want to add more than I have. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, my daughter does not like raisins and I was only able to add a few under great protest.
Ingredients:
14 oz. loaf of Brioche bread
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup half and half
3 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup raisins
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 3/4 tbsp. vanilla
Cut the bread into cubes and combine in a large mixing bowl with the milk and half and half.
This is a very soft bread and the mixture starts to get soggy and lose shape very quickly so don’t let it sit too long.
Fold in the eggs, butter, vanilla, sugar, and raisins and combine well while trying to keep the bread intact.
Scoop the mixture into a greased 3 quart casserole dish and bake for about an hour or until set at 325 degrees. I recommend using a rectangular casserole dish if you have one because mine took forever to cook in the square casserole. I am going to add that to my list of things I need to buy.
Once it is out of the oven let it sit for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Serve plain or with a little vanilla ice cream on top. Delicious!