A couple of days ago, something very delectable appeared on my FB feed. HaathiTime was craving carbs, and posted a very yummy photo of the bread pudding she made. And that’s it. It was like madness creeping onto me. I HAD TO TRY IT!

The recipe she posted had egg, so I had to make it eggless, and so I had to customize the recipe a bit. And then, this pregnant friend of mine at work had been asking me to bake her something , and so where others at work. I thought, why not make a big batch of bread pudding and serve everyone I know at work! :)

To spike up the flavor , I used rum-soaked raisins, but not in the one box I was baking for the pregnant friend. I also  have a couple of pairing ideas for future , which I noted at the end of the recipe.

So here it goes…

Eggless Bread Pudding

Inspired by – Haathi Time

Preparation time - 30 min
Baking time - 30 min
Makes pudding in two 6x6 square boxes

 

Ingredients

For layering the pudding

Bread slices - 12 slices
Raisins - 1 cup, soaked in Orange juice [I used rum soaked raisins]
Chocolate chips - 1/2 C, melted [You can also use grated chocolate]
Red chilli powder - 1 Tbsp , just to sprinkle on the chocolate – Totally optional
Butter - 50 gm [I used Amul butter]
Rum - 1 C , Optional

For the milk mixture

Milk - 1 Lt
Condensed milk - 1 tin , which is 300 ml
Vanilla extract - 1 Tsp
Sugar - 1 Tbsp, to act as garnish on the bread when baking

Instructions

1. Butter the baking dishes and keep aside.
2. Butter the bread on both sides, and cut each slice in four pieces.
3. Line these bread pieces in the baking dishes in one layer.
4. Sieve the water out of the raisins and place the raisins on the bread to form a layer.
5. If using rum, pour rum over these raisins to soak the break. If not using rum, then you can use Orange juice to soak up the bread
6. Place another layer of bread over this and pour the chocolate on this. Sprinkle the red chilli powder over the chocolate.
7. Place another layer of bread on this.
8. Prepare the milk mixture by heating the milk. Mix the butter to the warm milk, and add the condensed milk to it, all the while mixing well. Stir in the vanilla extract, and keep stirring for 5-10 min.
9. Let this mixture sit for 10-15 min before pouring it over the prepared bread slices in the baking dishes.
10. Let the bread pudding sit aside for 30 min.
11. Garnish the pudding with sugar by sprinkling it right before baking.
12. In a pre-heated oven, bake these dishes for 30 min, till the bread becomes crusty and brown-ish.

Serve warm.
If refrigerated, this will be good served for 2 days.

Note

1. Wait till the milk mixture is soaks the bread. The idea is to let the bread take in all the milk. If milk is not soaked, then the pudding will have to be baked longer.
2. Usage of red chilli powder is completely optional. I like a good chilli taste to the chocolate which is why I added it. You can think of any other such flavor and add it. Pouring dollops of jam instead of chocolate might be a good idea too
3. Please note that we are not going for a chilli flavor here, the only reason the red chilli powder is used is to bring out the flavor in the chocolate and add a bite-y taste to the pudding
4. Use deep baking dishes. I noticed that while baking, the bread kinda rises , since the milk is boiling. So a deep dish might help the pudding from falling off all over the oven
5. I used a rum and chocolate combination to spruce up things a bit, but am sure you can omit all these and make just a milk and bread pudding. I intend to try this with orange juice and chocolate, brandy and chocolate too next time I make it.
6. Do ahead plan – Follow the steps till Step 10, and bake the dish right before serving.