My first bread pudding experience involved Dessert Envy, when Dave and my brother and I went out for dessert and beer a few years ago. I ordered something rich and chocolately and otherwise unmemorable, and my brother ordered pumpkin bread pudding. I had one bite, my first taste ever of bread pudding, and was immediately smitten. Regrettably, I’ve only had it once since, another bite of someone else’s dessert order in a restaurant.
Finally, thanks to TWD, I’ve made my own bread pudding, and even got to eat a full serving instead of a single bite! But since this was my first time making it, I couldn’t troubleshoot as I baked.
Mostly I was surprised by how much liquid there was compared to the amount of bread. I weighed out the bread before leaving it out to stale, but it lost 33% of its weight by the time I baked with it, so I probably should have used more bread. It probably should have been drier too; it was still a little soft in the middle.
As a result, the bread wasn’t able to soak up all of the custard. (Is it supposed to? I’m assuming so, but I don’t know for sure.) The puddings baked up with a layer of pure custard on the bottom of the pan.
I still really enjoyed it though. Bread and custard sounds like an unlikely combination, but when the bread is saturated with the liquid, it forms, well, pudding. And pudding is good.
Lauren has the recipe posted. Next time I’ll use a darker chocolate (than the 60% cocao that I used), as the chocolate flavor was a little weak. And like I said, you’ll want 12 ounces of bread after it’s stale, not before.
One year ago: Marshmallows – I made this again and had some problems. Now I want to try a marshmallow recipe that doesn’t have egg whites.
Great photos! Your bread pudding looks downright tailored next to my gloppy (but yummy) mess! I baked two versions in those same glass bowls : )
Wow, you managed to make your bread pudding photogenic! Great job 🙂 This was my first time trying bread pudding and I really enjoyed it!
Looks delicious and a great job after your first attempt at bread pudding!
This was also my first attempt, and I enjoyed it too!
I have never actually had bread pudding either, but this sounds great!
My bread didn’t soak up all the custard either, but it was still tasty. Yours looks great!
I asked myself the exact same questions while making this! I don’t know anything about bread pudding so I had no idea if I did it right! Your pudding looks beautiful though!
I just love your photos! The bokeh is awesome! And I’ve never made bread pudding before either (I’m a little afraid to) – it looks great!
My donuts didn’t soak up all the custard either, and I halved the custard.
This looks great– add a little brown sugar butter and creme anglaise and I’d never leave the house. (most likely because I would no longer fit into any of my pants.)
Looks good. This was also my first time making bread pudding so I wan unsure of a few things. I kept stuffing more bread into the pan while it was soaking, I may have went a little overboard 🙂
Love your pics! Great job!
Not to sound like too big a baby, but my mom made me bread pudding every time I was sick. That and cup custards. Did she think sugar was curative? Who knows? (But it is.) Love the chocolate bits. Yum. I’m somehow thinking of this with cinnamon bread, too.
“and pudding is good.” Amen! I was a huge fan too. Pumpkin bread pudding sounds fantastic…
Beautiful photos! Glad it was good even with the layer of custard on the bottom!
Your bread pudding looks wonderful. I’m glad it was a success for you.
Oh gorgeous photos!
If you make it again, keep in mind that the staler (more stale? 🙂 ) your breadcrumbs, the more custard they’ll absorb. I let mine sit out for 2 days before I made mine and it was just about right. You don’t want croutons, but you definitely want the bread cubes dry all the way through.
My first taste of bread pudding was apple bread pudding , I loved it!! I’ve also had pumpkin and loved that as well! I’m sure your chocolate version was heavenly!!
Ooh, apple bread pudding, yum. Something about bread pudding seems fall-like to me, which is probably why the pumpkin version sounds so good too.
Your pictures are great! I’m glad you liked this.
Your pictures make this look so good. Maybe I’ll have to try this recipe again.
While I wasn’t really crazy about this dessert, Pumpkin Bread Pudding sounds very alluring and tasty! I’ll have to remember that once pumpkin season rolls back around. Nice job!
Well, either way it looks yummy! If I had gone with a measured amount of bread, mine would have been less. So I added more to my 8×8 pan just before making it, and that did make a difference.
Despite not soaking up all the custard, the bread pudding STILL looks perfect to me!!
Ooh, brilliant deduction. I wonder what goes well with bread pudding? Ice cream? Creme anglaise? (ha ha, both custards.) Marmalade? It looks deelish.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the Tartine cookbook. It really is a very high-quality dessert book, I’m glad I got it on sale at a used bookstore!
Wow! This looks so delicious! I was surprised by the amount of liquid…so I added more bread – which I totally didn’t need to do. Oh well, learn something new each week with TWD!
bread pudding is great comfort food. yours seems like it is a twist of the english ‘bread and butter’ pudding, and the increasingly popular ‘hot cross bun pudding’…substitute sultanas/raisins for chocolate!
My first Chocolate Bread Pudding, but I think i will stick to the old fashioned kind. Glad you liked it. It looks really good.
Great post, well done. Love the chocolate photo.