From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm probably a member of the last generation raised in kitchens where nothing was wasted, including stale bread and leftover rice. Rice and bread puddings were fixtures of my childhood. Bread pudding, both sweet and savory, has a long history in the annals of cooking. It can be traced to peasant kitchens where frugal and often hungry cooks refused to discard stale bread. The earliest recipe for bread pudding can be traced to a book called "The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy" by Hannah Glasse. It was published in 1747. Her recipe, save for instructions written in old English, is quite similar to those in use today. She adds butter, eggs and milk to stale bread and steams (boils) her pudding to completion. I prefer to bake mine.
I have a sentimental attachment to Cranberry Bread Pudding. It is, of course, delicious, but it's also one of the first recipes I entered into amateur recipe competition. It didn't embarrass me and it's stood the test of time. I make the pudding several times a year and it has become a fixture on my holiday dinner table. While the original recipe was made with croissants, and I do, by the way, urge you to use them, other sweet breads can be used as a substitute. The pudding shown in today's post was made with a raisin sweet bread because that is what I had on hand. Pumpkin pie spice is used to keep the number of ingredients used in the recipe under control. That's important in competition recipes, but less so in the confines of your own kitchen. I'm inserting a list of spices within the recipe that can be used in case you don't keep pumpkin pie spice in your pantry. This pudding is packed with down-home flavor and it's a wonderful addition to the holiday dessert table. The hard sauce is to die for - really! You can find the recipe here.
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4 comments :
I've printed this out for my "cranberry" file. The feeling is that it will become a favorite!
Best,
Bonnie
This was the first recipe of yours that I ever made - and it was delicious! I really must make it again. We don't have Thanksgiving here, but it is a perfect Autumnal pudding for any gathering. I live alone currently, so will have to try and scale it down (or risk eating the whole thing) :-)
Mary, I've never had cranberry bread pudding but I am positive that I'd love it! My favorite muffin is cranberry orange and I love bread pudding... Sounds like I couldn't miss on this one! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
I love bread pudding but don't make it nearly enough. This version with cranberries is awesome!
Sues
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