Chef
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Registered: June 13, 2006
Posts: 169
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| | May 15, 2009 at 10:21 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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“Mom’s” All-American Figgy Bread Pudding
Most ethnographic cuisines have a version of bread pudding. Some, such as German “red pudding” (Rot Grütze) are heavy, dense, mostly-fruit affairs and have all but disappeared from modern repertoires. The French and English produce a “bread and butter ‘ pudding ’ ” which is chiefly an egg custard with a few slices of toasted bread on top.
Bread pudding as “the kind Mom used to make” is understandably the favorite of any child of that mom. (It is well known that moms are very influential regarding the development of epicurean opinions.) In the north eastern United States the following recipe is fairly representative of what I call home-style bread pudding. Enjoy !
• 3 whole eggs
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups one-inch bread cubes cut from day-old Italian, French, or Viennese whole loaves or rolls
• 1⁄4 cup melted butter
• 1⁄3 cup raisins
• *1⁄2 cup dried figs ground into a paste and mixed with 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter
* (Make a large batch and use more sherry or Cognac. This “conserve” keeps in a lidded glass jar for months ... occasionally adding booze as may be necessary.
1. Preheat oven to 325-350° F
2. Spread the bread cubes onto a 'bun pan' (aka a 'sheet pan') and sprinkle with the melted butter. Place into the oven, and turning the cubes every two or three minutes, toast until golden.
3. Butter the inside of a two-quart low sided oven-proof casserole or baking dish
4. Mix together the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and fig paste.
5. In a separate bowl, toss the bread cubes and raisins.
6. Pour the egg-milk mixture over the bread and allow several minutes for absorption. Toss to distribute the egg/milk/sugar with the bread cubes.
7. Place this mixture into the buttered baking dish; dot the top with the butter, and sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the top.
8. Prepare a boiling Bain Marie for the baking dish and bake at 350°F for “an hour or so.” [Until an inserted knife comes out clean.]
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