Bread Pudding

Today, we’re diving into the ultimate comfort dessert: Bread Pudding. In the culinary world, you might hear it called by its more elegant, composed name—Diplomate—but no matter what you call it, this dessert is a dense, popular, and soul-warming classic built from the simplest of ingredients. It's a dish born of practicality. Back then, bread pudding was the genius solution to our grandmothers' most common kitchen dilemma: what to do with stale bread. Made of leftover loaves, milk, eggs, sugar, and often dotted with dry fruits and spices, it transformed waste into wonder. This age-old technique of reviving stale bread isn't unique to dessert, though. In France, when they take those same slices and dip them into that rich milk and egg mixture before frying them to a crisp, golden brown, they call it Pain Perdu—literally "lost bread." It’s what we know as French toast. It’s the same beautiful act of culinary rescue. And while humble white bread works in a pinch, if you really want to take your bread pudding to the next level, you look for the luxury items that didn't get finished. Leftover brioche, with its buttery crumb, flaky day-old croissants, or even a chunk of festive panettone will soak up that custard like a dream, elevating this rustic dessert into something truly regal.

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This age-old technique of reviving stale bread isn't unique to dessert...

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Dry Fruit Marinade

Soak the dry fruits in alcohol or orange juice and refrigerate them overnight.

Custard Mixture

Butter and flour a cake pan if you plan to demold the pudding. Cut the bread or brioche into cubes and place them in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk (or mix all the dairy ingredients using the immersion blender), the eggs, yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk in the milk, then pour this custard over the bread-brioche cubes. Add the marinated fruits (including any remaining soaking liquid) and toss gently to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for about 30 minutes, pressing down occasionally, so the bread can absorb all the liquid.Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan.

Baking Using Bundt Mold

Position a rack in the lower third of the fan oven and preheat to 330°F (160°C). Place a shallow baking dish or skillet on the rack and fill it halfway with boiling water to create a water bath. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until set and golden.
Once baked, remove the mold from the oven and place the pan over a bowl of ice water for an hour. This will help it cool down faster before you refrigerate it. Once completely chilled, remove the pudding from the pan, slice, and serve.

Baking Using a Shallow Pan

Bake the pudding covered with aluminum foil for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 430ºF/220ºC, or until golden brown. Let it cool and enjoy!
Panettone Perdu recipe.

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