Peach Bread Pudding.

I did it.  I finally did it.  I made a bread pudding!

But of course, because I’m ME, I couldn’t make a normal, plain-jane bread pudding.  Oh no.  That just wouldn’t be kosher.  (Not that anything’s kosher around this blog…I mean…have you SEEN the amount of bacon & bacon grease we have around here?)

We were having a potluck in honor of our company owner’s birthday this past week so I decided it was time. 

I should point out that I’m quite finnicky about bread pudding.  To enjoy it:

1. It must be served warm, through & through.  Cold bread pudding is disgusting, and I’ve come across FAR too many NOLA establishments that think it’s perfectly acceptable to serve cold bread pudding. *gags*

2. The sauce must also be warm, and not too boozy.  I’m eating dessert, not having a cocktail.

3. The predominant flavor should be cinnamon.  Not rum.

So when I stumbled upon a recipe for peach bread pudding, I thought—this is the dessert for me.  Peach cobbler is one of my favorites, and how seamlessly it should combine with a bread pudding!

I was SO right.

Ingredients:

4-6 cups bread, cubed into small pieces (about one average sized loaf)

1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk

3 large eggs

2.5 cups canned or fresh peaches (I used frozen unsweetened & they worked perfectly)

1/2 cup peach juice (if you use frozen, just defrost them in the microwave & it should produce a good amount of juice

1.25 c hot water

4 tbsp light butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light butter

2 tbsp light corn syrup (NOTE: if you don’t have corn syrup, no problem!  Combine 2 tbsp of white sugar + 2 tsp warm water and stir.  Microwave for 20 seconds & crystals should mostly dissolve.  Then add to the pan.)

1 tbsp rum OR 2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Grease an 11x7 baking dish.

Cube up your bread.

In a separate large bowl, combine peaches, condensed milk, eggs (lightly beaten), hot water, butter, vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg & stir well.

(Recipes on Nooks are mighty handy.)

Add your bread & stir until bread is moistened.

Transfer into your baking dish.

Note: You can also make little individual bread puddings in rammekins, like I did, so that my husband & I could taste test the dish without destroying the pan I was taking to the potluck.

Place in the middle of the oven & bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean.

In the last 10-20 minutes of your baking process, make the sauce for your pudding.

Combine the sauce ingredients over medium heat, bring to a boil, & let simmer for 3-4 minutes or until it starts to thicken.  It will thicken more as it cools.

Serve the bread pudding warm, with warm sauce.

I, my husband, and my coworkers absolutely fell in love with this dish.  I’m DEFINITELY making it again!

 

NutriFacts: (makes 16 servings)

Calories 234.0

  Total Fat 3.5 g

  Saturated Fat 1.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.4 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g

  Cholesterol 37.8 mg

  Sodium 86.4 mg

  Potassium 89.4 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 47.1 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.3 g

  Sugars 26.2 g

  Protein 6.2 g