Bread Pudding — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A warm, custardy dessert made from day-old bread soaked in a sweet egg and milk mixture, baked until golden and served with a rich vanilla sauce.

Ingredients

6 cups day-old French bread, cubed
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
3 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter, then spread the cubed bread evenly across the bottom of the dish.
2 In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until the mixture is smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve.
3 Scatter the raisins over the bread cubes in the baking dish, then pour the custard mixture evenly over everything, pressing the bread down gently to ensure it absorbs the liquid.
4 Let the dish sit for 15 minutes so the bread fully soaks up the custard, pressing down occasionally with a spatula to submerge any floating pieces.
5 Drizzle the melted butter over the top and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the pudding is set, puffed up, and golden brown on top.
6 Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before serving warm, optionally drizzled with a vanilla bourbon sauce or whipped cream.

Did You Know?

Bread pudding originated as a thrifty way to use stale bread in 11th-century England, but New Orleans transformed it into a decadent dessert by adding whiskey sauce in the 1800s.