Showing posts sorted by date for query bread pudding. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query bread pudding. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I had a bit of stale bread that I wanted to use before it went moldy the other day and so I decided to make a Bread & Butter Pudding. Bread & Butter Pudding is a real favorite dessert in the UK. I don't think I had ever really had it before I moved over there.
Its a pudding made with buttered bread and custard. An old fashioned bread and butter pudding will have raisins in it, and not much else. You will sometimes see bread and butter pudding with jam.
That is one of my favorite versions. Little bread and jam sandwiches baked in a rich custard. Its really yummy!
I actually have quite a few bread pudding recipes on the blog. You can access them from here. There is something there which is sure to please everyone and every taste!
I thought I would try something a little bit different today. First of all I wanted a bread pudding that wasn't overly large. So I downsized a pudding I found in a cookbook I have by Martha Stewart called Dinner at Home.
Its a great book, filled with lots of yummy menus and recipes. Her recipe called for rum. Rum is not something I keep in my house because I don't really drink alcohol, although I do cook with it from time to time.
I used to keep small bottles of quite a few things in the larder to cook with, small bottles of liqueurs etc. I have had to replace so many things here, setting myself back up again, that buying alcohol has been low on my priority list, so no cooking alcohol for now.
I decided I would use Ginger Syrup in it's place. Some of you may recall me making my own preserved ginger in syrup last December. You can access that recipe here.
Its actually very easy to make and its a great ingredient to have on hand. You will find millions of uses for both the knobs of preserved ginger and for the syrup. Its lovely. Sometimes I will add a touch of it to a lemon glaze when I am glazing a gingerbread or some such.
Its really delicious and pieces of the ginger are really nice as decorations on cakes, or even in cakes. I highly recommend you make some.
I felt that some of the syrup would make a great substitution for the rum, which meant I also had to cut back on the sugar. I decided to use honey instead of sugar.
Honey and ginger are perfect partners. Add some lemon into the mix and you have a trinity of beautiful flavors, and one very tasty bread pudding!
Don't worry if you can't find or don't have preserved ginger. You can just use extra honey in it's place and add some powdered dried ginger in it's place. It will work find.
I added some lemon into the pudding along with the vanilla in the way of lemon extract. I also introduced a bit of grated lemon zest. You won't be using any refined sugar at all, except for a bit of demerara sugar sprinkled on top before baking.
For even more ginger flavor, I added a small quantity of chopped candied ginger. I so love candied ginger. I sometimes sit and eat a piece of it instead of a sweetie, which totally satisfies my sweet tooth in a fabulously tasty way.
Have I mentioned how much I love ginger??? Well now you know! I love LOVE ginger.
I also cut the recipe in half to serve only two people, which it does very generously. Her recipe said that it fed four with leftovers. Mine feeds two generously.
I used a rustic white bread. Some of a Stale boule I had in the fridge. I cut off all of the crust and then buttered it lightly with some softened butter. (The birds enjoyed the crusts)
I then cut the bread into cubes. She had cut hers into quarters, but it is kind of hard to cut slices of a boule into quarters or triangles.
I thought cubes would work well and they did. I mixed the buttered bread with the pieces of candied ginger.
The custard which is poured over top is made by beating together some whole milk, cream, and the other liquid ingredients, along with the lemon zest.
You just pour it evenly over top of the bread mixture, and then you just leave it to sit for an hour. Don't skip this step.
That sitting time allows for the bread to soak up as much of that custard as it can, which results in a pudding with a lovely light and creamy texture.
Once the hour is up you can bake the pudding. I sprinkled some demerara sugar over top just before baking, for a bit of a sparkle and a tiny bit of sweet.
There is no sugar in the pudding itself, just the honey and the ginger syrup.
It gets baked for about a half an hour in a hot oven. If you think it is getting browned too quickly on top, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil. It works a charm.
I had always thought that with foil you wanted the shiny side away from the food, and dull side in. Actually it is the other way around according to my sister.
In all truth, it probably doesn't matter much.
This soufflés up really nicely in the oven. It comes out all nice and puffy. It is done when a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. If its not quite done, pop it back in for a few more minutes.
Easy peasy lemon squeasy as they say!
Martha served hers simply with some strawberries which she macerated in their own juices with a bit of sugar. I thought that was perfect.
I had some lovely berries that a lady brought to my door that were beautiful and extremely fresh. Picked just that morning. They tasted lovely.
I knew they would go really well with this pudding. I simply washed them, cut them in half and tossed them with a bit of sugar, leaving them to sit for about 10 minutes.
You could also toss them wit some ginger syrup if you wanted to. Its up to you really.
This was a beautiful pudding really. Crunchy on the outside. Soft and creamy on the inside, with lovely lemon and ginger flavours.
Tiny bits of candied ginger, strewn throughout and a few bits on the top that got a bit crunchy. Just lovely. I think I may have found my new favorite bread and butter pudding! I think you are going to love it too!!
Ginger & Honey Bread & Butter Pudding with Strawberries
Yield: serves 2
Prep time: 1 H & 10 MCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 40 M
Make sure you soak the bread for at least an hour prior to baking. This delicious rich pudding serves two generously.
Ingredients
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 2 TBS liquid honey (pick one with a nice flavor)
- 1 TBS ginger syrup (if you can't find it, use an additional TBS of honey) (from a jar of preserved ginger)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- the grated zest of half a lemon
- 2 TBS chopped candied ginger
- pinch of salt
- 4 thin slices of day old rustic white bread, crusts removed
- softened butter to spread
- 1 TBS demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
For the berries:
- 1/2 pint fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and cut in half
- 1 TBS sugar
Instructions
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, honey, ginger syrup, vanilla, lemon extract, lemon zest, and salt.
- Butter a small rectangular casserole dish which holds two cups.
- Butter your bread slices on one side and cut into cubes. Toss them together with the chopped candied ginger and pop them into the prepared casserole dish.
- Pour the egg mixture over top. Let stand at room temperature for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6.
- Sprinkle the demerara sugar over top of the casserole and then pop it into the oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and set. Remove from the oven.
- Combine the prepared strawberries with the sugar and leave to macerate for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Serve the bread pudding warm in dishes with some of the berries on the side. Delicious!
Notes:
Ginger syrup is the syrup which surrounds preserved ginger in the jar. It is thick and syrupy and has a lovely ginger flavor. If you cannot find it, just use honey in it's place and perhaps add 1/4 tsp of powdered ginger to the egg mixture.
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I am really excited to share this one pan breakfast bake with you this morning! Not only is it baked all in one pan, but it is also very simple to make and quite delicious as well!
Most mornings I will only have a couple pieces of toast or a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Sometimes I like to have yogurt and granola with a drizzle of honey or date syrup.
I always like to make my own granola from scratch. Not only can I control what goes into it, but I can also control the sweetness.
I have a really nice recipe that I use, which uses honey and maple syrup to sweeten it. It is also chock full of all kinds of nuts. It is my all time favorite granola recipe. You can find that recipe here.
You just can't beat your own homemade granola. Its the best and so wholesome. My children grew up on this. I might not have been able to get them to eat a bowl of oatmeal, but I sure had no problem getting them to eat granola!
Sometimes if I am really busy and on the run, I will grab a wholesome homemade muffin for breakfast. There is no end to the delicious muffin recipes on here, but one of my favorite muffins is this recipe for Super Duper Bran Muffins.
They are a real favorite with my readers as well! No small wonder there as they are moist and delicious!
Usually at the weekend I like to pull out the stops where breakfast is concerned. I have a bit more time to spend and weekends have always been "special breakfast" occasions in my home.
Sometimes pancakes or waffles are on the menu. Sometimes eggs. Eggs are one of those things I have to be in a real mood to eat.
One thing that the British really love is their Full English Breakfast. It is also called a Fry Up and will usually consist of eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, toast, grilled tomatoes and often black pudding.
Not a breakfast meant for the weak of heart, it is one you really need to bring your appetite to! You can find my recipe for a Full English Breakfast here.
This is what will be on offer at all B&B's in the UK and most pubs and restaurants. When I first moved over to the UK, you used to be able to get a full English at the BHS in Chester.
You could choose to have between 5 and 7 options and toast was extra. I loved having fried bread. Not very healthy, but oh boy was it ever good. Deep fried bread. Crisp and golden brown. Yummy!
It seemed a bit odd to me for there to be baked beans offered for breakfast, but I soon got used to it and embraced the idea. It was actually very good.
And the sausages in the UK, so long as you used a good Butchers variety, were unbeatable. I shall miss British Bangers, although to be honest you can now get some very good Bangers here in Canada. I like the free-from sausages that you can get at the super-store. Very tasty!
I will also miss brown eggs. I have not seen a brown egg since I returned to Canada. Brown eggs are lovely, especially if you can get them fresh from the farm.
One thing which really surprised me in the UK was that the eggs were not refrigerated in any of the shops. They were just there on the shelves and most people did not refrigerate their eggs at home either! (I always did. I could not get past the fear of poisoning myself, lol)
Of course there is only me now and I won't be opening tins of beans, etc. to make a breakfast just for me. I fear I would not get the whole tin eaten.
In the UK they sell single sized snap pots, that would be ideal. I have not seen them here.
This easy one pan breakfast is a play on the old Egg in the Hole breakfast that we all enjoyed as children. There is one major difference however. This version is not fried, its baked.
Another major difference is that it bakes on a baking sheet with breakfast potatoes and sausages. An entire breakfast all on one pan. No fuss no muss and very little to clean up.
You begin by roasting some baking potatoes in a hot oven. Washed, unpeeled, cut into one inch chunks and simply tossed with a bit of olive oil, they are roasted on a baking sheet just until they begin to blister and turn golden brown.
Once that happens you add the sausages. Lay them on top of the potatoes where the fat from them helps to gild those potatoes a tiny bit more.
Once your sausages have turned golden brown on top it is time to push them and those lovely roast potatoes over to the side and add your toast to the baking sheet.
Two slices of rustic bread, I use a multi-grain, with holes cut out, all nicely buttered. Even the holes. Once toasted on the bottoms, you flip them over and can add the eggs.
One each, large free range egg. My first husband came from a farming family. I used to grade eggs in the hen house at the weekends. Quite an education for a young 19 year old I will say.
I never use anything but free range eggs. I refuse to support an inhumane industry such as caged laying hens in batteries. I would rather eat eggs less often and pay a bit more for them.
But you do whatever you have to do according to your own conscience. I will not judge you. Free-range is just my personal preference.
Mistakenly or not, I also think they taste better. Don't burst my bubble!
I used raw breakfast sausage links for this. You can use frozen fully cooked sausage links if you wish, or even frozen cooked sausage rounds.
All will cook in about the same amount of time. The times I have suggested result in perfectly cooked egg whites, with a still slightly runny yolk. You cook it according to your own preference if you prefer your yolks to be a bit harder.
All in all this is a beautiful breakfast. Just hearty enough and perfectly sized for two. True confession here, I cut it in half yet again and did it just for one.
It was delicious and more than enough for this aging appetite of mine! Enjoy!
One Pan Breakfast
Yield: 2
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 50 Min
A delicious breakfast for two with sausage, toast and roasted potatoes, all conveniently baked on one baking sheet. No fuss, no muss.
Ingredients
- 1 pound baking potatoes, unpeeled, washed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 TBS light olive oil
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 thickish slices of a hearty style bread (I use a multi-grain)
- 2 TBS butter, softened
- 6 breakfast sausage links (chipolatas)
- 2 large free range eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450*F/225*C/gas mark 7. Spray a small rimmed, baking sheet with some cooking spray.
- Toss the potatoes with the oil, ½ tsp of salt and some black pepper. Spread into an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until they are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Spread one side of each of the bread slices with 1 TBS of the butter evenly, dividing it equally between both. Using a 2 ½ inch round cutter, cut out a circle in the center of each slice. Reserve the circles.
- Remove your baking sheet from the oven. Place the sausages on top of the potatoes, returning the baking sheet to the oven and continue to cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the sausages are lightly browned on top.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Push the potatoes and sausages to one side. Add the remaining TBS of butter to the other side of the baking sheet. Allow it to melt and spread it out evenly. Add the bread slices and bread rounds. Return the baking sheet to the oven and toast the bread for 4 to 6 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip the bread and the bread rounds over. Break an egg into each hole in the bread. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and black pepper.
- Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake for a further 4 to 5 minutes, or until the yolks are cloudy but still give slightly when touched. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 2 to 3 minutes to finish cooking. Serve hot.
Irish Apple Cake. Apple Cake has to be one of the most delicious cakes a person can bake. You cannot beat a cake that is filled with sweet tender slices of apple and warm baking spices. Unless you are talking about an "Irish" Apple Cake.
And then the combination becomes absolutely unbeatable. Tender apple slices baked in a cake batter and then topped with a wholesome oat streusel. Add flaked almonds to that streusel and you have one very delicious cake!
Every year I like to bake an Irish Apple Cake for Saint Patrick's Day. The first time I made it, I made a recipe adapted from a recipe I got from a Rachel Allen Cookery Book. If you are not familiar with who she is, she is the daughter in law of Darina Allen, the doyenne of Irish cookery.
They run the Ballymaloe House, Restaurant and Cookery School in Ireland. I had always wanted to go to this cookery school, but never got there.
I am not sure what makes this an Irish Cake. I would say more that it is a cake in the European tradition, in that it is somewhat denser than North American Cakes, and the manner of putting it together is also somewhat different.
It is kind of done in layers. You make a cake batter, which you spread in the pan and top with sliced apple, topping that finally with a streusel layer. This year I added some flaked almonds to the streusel to amp it up. Lovely-icious!
The cake itself is moist and delicious, lightly spiced with cinnamon. You put it together in a way that is very different than North American cakes. You rub the butter into the flour, almost like you would do if you were making scones.
North American cakes are a lot sweeter than European cakes. I have to say, not trying to be rude, but I prefer the lesser sweetness of European styled cakes.
We North Americans make and use far too much sugar I think. Living in the UK, I got used to their way of doing things. Even the bread in North America is too sweet for my taste. I had noticed that the last time I was home with mom.
Most of the sweetness in this cake comes from the apples and the streusel topping. You want to use a nice cooking apple for the filling. Cooking apples are a bit more tart than regular apples. You could use Granny Smith or a Cortland.
These are tossed with some sugar and cinnamon before laying them on top of the cake base in the pan. Sometimes I will add a bit of nutmeg. The warm flavour of nutmeg goes very well with apples and you don't need a lot of it. A little bit always goes a long way.
More sweetness comes from the streusel topping. It is sweet and wholesome and adds a lovely crunch to the top of the cake. Oats make it really wholesome, but adding flaked almonds made it nice and crunchy.
Apple and almond is a very quintessentially moreish combination. But then again, so is apple and oats.
This not too sweet cake goes excellently with a nice hot drink. (Also a European tradition.) Hot cups of tea if you are so inclined or Coffee both go very well. That makes it the perfect cake for a mid morning or mid afternoon treat.
It also makes for a fabulous dessert however. Especially when paired with a custard sauce/creme anglaise in the European fashion. You can find my recipe for the custard sauce here.
Serving this warm with custard sauce is a very British thing to do. I can remember when I first moved to the UK, we were taken out for dinner by the people in our church to celebrate our wedding. At the end of the meal I was asked what I wanted for pudding.
I was thinking pudding . . . hmmm . . . butterscotch, vanilla or chocolate. I like all three, but the word Pudding has a totally different context over there in the UK.
In the UK the term "Pudding" is meant to mean a course, ie. dessert. So when they ask you if you want pudding, what they really mean is do you want dessert?
And then, once you get the dessert, do you want it with lashings of cream or custard, or . . . both! Believe it or not I know people who would choose both.
And the cream is never sweetened, or whipped, just poured. Even the custard is not overly sweet in comparison to our puddings/desserts. And lashings . . . means poured liberally over top.
In restaurants your dessert will often come with its own little jug of each. I do love either one. But the North American in me will always love Ice Cream most of all and with a cake like this is has to be vanilla ice cream.
You don't want to serve it with anything that is going to detract from the lush flavors of the apple and the cinnamon and the streusel. Vanilla works best with all those things.
But its your dessert, so you go ahead and have whatever you want. I am thinking Maple Walnut would be nice, but then I am nuts for Maple Walnut ice cream! But again, not very Irish.
In any case, if you are looking for a fabulous dessert to serve with your Saint Patrick's day dinner on the 17th of March, you can't go far wrong by serving this!
Irish Apple Cake
Yield: 6 - 8
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 50 Mininactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
A delicious version of an apple cake, baked with tasty apple slices sandwiched in the center. Serve warm with or without custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (280g) self raising flour (You may need extra, see note below to make your own)
- 1/2 cup (125g) butter
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (use caster sugar in the UK)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
For the filling:
- 2 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 1/2 TBS soft light brown sugar
For the Streusel Topping:
- 3/4 cup (105 g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (20g) old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (in the UK use caster sugar)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 TBS butter, cut into bits
- 4 TBS flaked almonds
To serve:
- Icing sugar to dust
- Custard sauce or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep flan tin, with a loose bottom, roughly 9 inches in diameter. Set aside.
- Make the Streusel. Measure the flour and oats and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the cinnamon. Drop in the butter. Rub together with your fingers until it clumps together and you have a crumble mixture. Stir in the flaked almonds.
- Place the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and milk and mix together with a round bladed knife.
- If the dough seems a bit too sticky add a bit more flour. You want a soft dough.
- Spoon the dough into the prepared pan, making it higher around the edges, about 1 inch into the center with a hollowed out space to put the apples.
- Spread the apple slices evenly over the center of the base. Press them down lightly. Sprinkle with the soft light brown sugar and the cinnamon.
- Sprinkle the streusel over top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
- Let stand in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing the sides.
- Place the tin on top of a jar and push the sides of the pan down and remove. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool to warm.
- Dust with icing sugar before cutting into wedges to serve, with or without ice cream or custard.
Notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
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