Plum Bread Pudding
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| photo by Charles Haynes |
A cool thing to do with plums and day old bread is to make bread pudding! I remember my mom loved buying plums and we always had them around. She also enjoyed making bread puddings so I've enjoyed these for years.
Off the subject, this is my what 6th post today! Well...you might be wondering why so many posts in one day? Well, it started when I changed the calendar to June and then I panicked when I saw that I'm only 1-1/2 weeks away from launch and I'm not at my 100th post yet. I don't think people who not bloggers understand how much work goes into this job. It's fun but it takes a lot of work and as a blogger you do a lot of research, writing, trying out recipes if you're a foodie, looking and color correcting photos, etc., before you put up a post. Sometimes, just one post may take me a week to do the work before I update the blog. Right now I'm about 20 posts shy of my goal. I'd hate to have back the date up because I know I have some eager friends waiting for me to officially announce the launch, and the funny part is that I've already got some readers and comments which makes me feel really good that I have a good product here and I really want my blog be a fun site to come to often.
I wish you could see my desk right now, it's filled with all my dessert catalogs and I pulled out all my last year's Holiday Kraft recipe magazines too. And, of course I'm reading my Off the Shelf Baking cookbook so my recipe box is growing fast, maybe too fast for me to keep up! It's fun going through all the recipes and I so want to put everything up right now. I'd love to have thousands of desserts on this blog, but it'll happen one post at a time. Just mark your calendars for June 15th for the official launch! Back to the recipe:
Ingredients:
Approx. 8 ripe plums
1 cup granulated, high quality sugar, plus several spoonfuls for the plums
1/2 loaf of peasant bread (your favorite brand or recipe);
if you want to make some in your bread machine, visit The Baker's Shoppe for bread mixes
1 cup granulated, high quality sugar, plus several spoonfuls for the plums
1/2 loaf of peasant bread (your favorite brand or recipe);
if you want to make some in your bread machine, visit The Baker's Shoppe for bread mixes
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
4 eggs
Butter a small baking dish and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse, halve and pit the plums. Lay skin side down in the baking dish and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of sugar into the centers. Bake just until the juices start to drip, 15 minutes. Set aside to cool for a few minutes, then carefully remove to a plate, being sure to also transfer any plum juice that has accumulated. At this point you can turn the oven off if you like.
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
4 eggs
Butter a small baking dish and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse, halve and pit the plums. Lay skin side down in the baking dish and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of sugar into the centers. Bake just until the juices start to drip, 15 minutes. Set aside to cool for a few minutes, then carefully remove to a plate, being sure to also transfer any plum juice that has accumulated. At this point you can turn the oven off if you like.
Cut the crusts of the bread and cut into 1" slices, or strips–whatever height will make them almost flush with the top of the casserole. Generously butter the slices on both sides and set aside.
Whisk the cream and milk together. In another bowl, vigorously whisk the cup of sugar into the eggs, and keep whisking until things are well-combined. Constantly whisking, drizzle the egg mixture into the cream and milk. Keep whisking for two or three minutes until you have a thin, airy custard. Let sit at room temperature while you deal with the bread.
Arrange the bread in the baking dish by placing upright and at an angle; like dominoes but more upright. Tuck the cooled plum halves between each slice, toward the top. Slowly pour in some of the custard. Wait a while for the bread to absorb the liquid, then slowly add more. The longer this step takes–and especially if you have the time to wait for an hour–the more airy an delicate the pudding will be. At some point in the process turn the oven to 350 degrees. When you think the pudding has absorbed all of the cream mixture it will take–up to 1/4" from the top. Drizzle with the reserved plum juices and put into the oven with a cookie sheet underneath. Bake for 35 minutes, until the sides are set with a jiggly center.
Whisk the cream and milk together. In another bowl, vigorously whisk the cup of sugar into the eggs, and keep whisking until things are well-combined. Constantly whisking, drizzle the egg mixture into the cream and milk. Keep whisking for two or three minutes until you have a thin, airy custard. Let sit at room temperature while you deal with the bread.
Arrange the bread in the baking dish by placing upright and at an angle; like dominoes but more upright. Tuck the cooled plum halves between each slice, toward the top. Slowly pour in some of the custard. Wait a while for the bread to absorb the liquid, then slowly add more. The longer this step takes–and especially if you have the time to wait for an hour–the more airy an delicate the pudding will be. At some point in the process turn the oven to 350 degrees. When you think the pudding has absorbed all of the cream mixture it will take–up to 1/4" from the top. Drizzle with the reserved plum juices and put into the oven with a cookie sheet underneath. Bake for 35 minutes, until the sides are set with a jiggly center.
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