Pumpkin Bread Pudding
I absolutely LOVE bread pudding This dish is great as a dessert warmed with vanilla ice cream or served for breakfast DELICIOUS
I absolutely LOVE bread pudding This dish is great as a dessert warmed with vanilla ice cream or served for breakfast DELICIOUS
- Carbohydrate 49.5524476301496 g
- Cholesterol 310.8899999437 mg
- Fat 20.6916305450654 g
- Fiber 5.18258387786545 g
- Protein 15.4263313705393 g
- Saturated Fat 10.7385752391415 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (279g)
- Sodium 436.308915566132 mg
- Sugar 44.3698637522842 g
- Trans Fat 1.85576113036751 g
- Calories 439 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter an 8 x 8 square, or 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
- Toast bread on a baking sheet in the oven, turning occasionally, until lightly browned (20-25 minutes). Remove from oven.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pie spice, vanilla, and salt. Add the toasted bread and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface. Place a plate small enough to fit inside the bowl, on top of the plastic; weight with a large canned good. Let soak until the bread is totally saturated, about 25 minutes.
- Place the mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Place on a baking sheet, and bake about 60-70 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm, or at room temperature, dusting with powdered sugar, or topped with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.
Standard measurements on a page cannot convey how the structure of the bread dictates the final custard absorption. Baguettes dried until lightly browned at 300 degrees will accept liquid uniformly without disintegrating into mush. Half-and-half provides a 12 percent butterfat baseline, coating the palate cleanly while keeping the pumpkin puree from tasting chalky. Whisking eggs completely into the dairy prevents localized curdling during the long bake. Forcing the cubed bread beneath the liquid using a weighted plate ensures every crumb hydrates evenly within 25 minutes. Commercial canned pumpkin contains added moisture stabilizers that yield a denser, more uniform gel compared to roasted fresh squash purées, which require manual draining through cheesecloth to prevent weeping. Baking on a secondary sheet guards the base from scorching while the interior sets. Judge doneness visually and texturally by inserting a wooden toothpick into the exact center of the 2-quart baking dish; it must emerge clean without wet crumbs clinging to the wood. Cool the pudding to room temperature on a wire rack to allow the starches to retrogradely set, yielding clean slices rather than a loose scramble.
