Sweet Bread Pudding
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole allspice berries
2 whole black peppercorns
3 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter
6 cups hearty bread, cubed or torn
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
It's all about how you spice it baby!
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Place the milk and cream in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and peppercorns. Remove from heat, cover and set aside to infuse for at least 20 minutes.
Whisk together the eggs with the sugar.
Remove the vanilla and spices from the milk and cream mixture. Reheat and temper into the egg mixture.
Place the bread (and raisins if using) in a large, greased baking dish. Pour in the custard and toss to mix well.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool for half an hour and serve warm or cool completely, cover, refrigerate and serve cold.
Additional Notes
Simply put, there’s no better way to work spice flavour into rich dishes than the infusion method. The fats in the cream soak up the aromatic oils in the spices when warm and in turn present them to your senses in their most refined form. The well polished flavour profile of this bread pudding elevates it from a simple rustic dessert to an elegant finale to even the most sophisticated meals.
If you’re not already friends with your local hippie natural food grocers, you should extend the olive branch. They usually sell vanilla beans for around a buck, a much better deal than paying $10 for 2 withered pods off the spice rack at your supermarket chain.
