Since I discovered no-knead bread, I haven’t been buying bread at all (thank you, folks at King Arthur Flour!); every couple of days, I mix up a batch of dough, and voilà, fresh bread. It almost always gets used up before it goes stale, but sometimes time wins out.
That’s the one thing about homemade bread that could be considered a drawback— how quickly it goes stale. It’s at its best while still warm, the day it was made. It’s still quite good the following day, but after that (and depending on the specific bread) it begins to lose that freshly made quality.
But it’s not really a drawback, you see, because stale homemade bread makes splendid bread pudding. Whenever a loaf gets too stale, I put it in the freezer, and when I have about a loaf-and-a-half’s worth, I make bread pudding.
.
One of the reasons I like the particular recipe that I use (which I adapted from a recipe for Brown Sugar Bread Pudding in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking), is that I can mix it all up right in the pan if I want to. This does require exercising a bit of restraint in one’s stirring technique, however, so if you want to whisk with abandon, best use a mixing bowl instead.
It’s also an extremely versatile recipe. The main ingredients (apart from the pile of stale bread) are milk and eggs, and once you’ve got those taken care of, you’re free to improvise with the spices and extras. You might make adjustments based on your own taste, choice of main course, available fresh fruit (one of my favorite versions used fresh blueberries in season), and, of course, what bread(s) you have to work with.
This time, I had some stale Pumpkin Seed Bread, and a loaf of Sweet Potato Bread. The latter was not so much stale as “rehabilitated”. It’s a new no-knead bread variation I’ve been working on developing, and the first loaf had a fragrance that was just what I was hoping for, but the texture was doughy and unsatisfactory. After an attempt to give it more time failed to help, I split the loaf open and returned it to the still-hot (but off) oven. After an hour or two, it was nicely dried out, and all ready to make delicious stuffing, croutons, or—you guessed it—bread pudding.
Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces.
I don’t measure the bread—I just keep tearing it off and working it in until the milk and egg mixture is thoroughly filled with bread. The original recipe called for 2 cups of bread crumbs; this made, to my taste, something that was more bread custard than bread pudding.
Once it’s full, I let it rest in the refrigerator for about a half hour to give the dry bread a chance to really absorb the liquid. Then, preheat the oven to 325° and dot the top of the pudding with butter.
The original recipe suggested baking for 45 minutes, but I’ve never had one yet that was done in that time—I’d recommend starting with 55 minutes and checking it.
Be sure to use the knife test for this (if blade comes out clean, it’s done)—with “bought bread” bread pudding, I’d gotten into the habit of just giving it a jiggle-test. If it’s set up in the center it’s done—right? Not necessarily. The homemade bread will form a stable crust on top and seem well set up while the center may still be quite runny (ask me how I know this).
At 45 minutes, this still needed more time.
There’s a certain satisfaction in making something that tastes so good, from something that was probably just going to be thrown away otherwise.
Bread Pudding
(Adapted from a recipe for Brown Sugar Bread Pudding in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking.)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (the original recipe called for 1 tsp.—that was too much of a good thing for me)
dash nutmeg (I added this)
about 1 – 1 1/2 loaves worth of stale bread
1/2 cup raisins (or other dried or fresh fruit)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional—I usually omit these)
2 tbsp. butter
Combine eggs, milk and vanilla; stir in brown sugar, salt and spices. Pour mixture into a well-greased 8×8 in. baking dish. Tear bread into bite-sized pieces, and incorporate until the liquid is full—don’t pack or force it, but keep stirring bread in until there is little to no room for more. Stir in raisins and nuts, if desired. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.
Preheat the oven to 325°. Remove dish from refrigerator, uncover, and dot top with butter. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the blade of a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
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