CELEBRATING GOOD FRIDAY!
Bread pudding always gives me reason to remember good things. Truly a comfort food for those of us that recall it from childhood days. It’s not that the dish was invented here — that honor likely goes to clever medieval or even ancient cooks in Europe and the Middle East who had a surplus of stale bread on their hands. The perfect embodiment of the virtues of frugality and indulgence: day old bread, too precious to waste, is bathed in a mixture of milk and eggs and made into either a sweet or savory bread pudding (with a few other additions) and baked into something sublime. What makes it special is the blend of spices mixed into it and the sauce.
The chai spice baking blend, which is sometimes overlooked, adds a distinct warm flavor and depth. It can include a number of different spices. Cardamom is the most common ingredient, followed by some mixture of cinnamon, ginger, star anise and cloves. Pepper, coriander, nutmeg and fennel are also used but they are slightly less common.
This bread pudding combines hot cross buns with spices inspired by the world’s love affair with Indian chai. The origins of hot cross buns may go back as far as the 12th century. According to the story, an Anglican monk baked the buns and marked them with a cross in honor of Good Friday. Over time they gained popularity, and eventually became a symbol of Easter weekend.
Bread pudding, when done right, should have the perfect balance of gooey goodness and chewy texture. That’s why stale bread/buns are important. The bread needs a degree of crunch otherwise you will have ‘mush pudding’. For additional flavor, the pudding is served with a vanilla sauce. Who says bread pudding has to be boring!
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- 300 gm (6 buns) hot cross buns, cut into cubes
- 1 2/3 cups milk
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 3/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup (70 gm) butter,
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups 1/2 & 1/2 cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
Vanilla Sauce
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- Place cubed hot cross buns in a greased 9 x 9-inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the milk, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, spices & salt. Pour over buns, making sure that the bread is completely covered by the milk mixture.
- Cover & refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
- Set out the chilled bread pudding while you preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake 40 - 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean. Remove from oven & serve with vanilla sauce.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter & add flour. Stir until mixture has a nutty aroma.
- Add salt, cream & sugar; stir until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat & stir in vanilla.
- Spoon over servings of warm bread pudding.
- You will notice I have only used 2 Tbsp sugar in the vanilla sauce to offset the sweetness of the pudding.