Fancy Bread Pudding

Does the title sound healthy enough for you? :-p

Bread pudding is a dessert that I will forever love. I grew up with my Mom, Aunts and Grandma's constantly whipping up some bread pudding for a quick dessert and sugar fix. It is definitely a budget-friendly dessert as well, and if you're like me... you can have it as a breakfast treat as well ;-)

The traditional way my Mom used to make this pudding is by using slices of bread, buttering each slice, and spreading apricot jam onto each slice, then cutting it up into cubes. Add the same custard mixture (recipe below) on top and add raisins (if you like them). It's still my favorite way to make bread pudding.

However, as more ingredients become available and our palates evolve little by little, we've added various things into our basic bread pudding - everything from different fruits to nutella (nutella makes everything better), but I had never tried marshmallows in mine and thought I'd give it a try. The result was absolutely delicious and a recipe I'm glad to share with all of you because I know you'll love it too.

Basic Bread Pudding Ingredients:

1 loaf of italian bread, slices then cut into 1" cubes (you can use regular white bread too, but i like the texture italian bread gives)

2 tablespoons of melted butter

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups of milk

3/4 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

pinch of nutmeg

My additions to this recipe:

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cup of fresh blueberries

1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350C

2. In a casserole dish, spread out the bread cubes and drizzle the melted butter over it, then sprinkle your (optional) additions and mix to even out.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients

4. Pour the custard mixture over the pudding, making sure to get to all pieces of bread.

5. Bake for approx 30mins, or until a quick inserted knife comes out clean.

Traditionally, we have warm custard with our pudding, but you can add a dollop of fresh whipped cream or ice-cream. Enjoy!

cPe 2010