Bread Pudding
Stale bread reborn in vanilla custard with a caramelized top — thrift never tasted so rich.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 6 slices Bread
- 400 ml Milk
- 3 Egg
- 100 g Sugar
- 25 g Butter
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 100 ml Cream (optional)
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon (optional)
- 60 g Raisins (optional)
Method
- Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Butter a 2-litre baking dish all over the inside.
- Tear the bread into rough chunks and pile them into the buttered dish.
- Scatter the raisins over and between the bread chunks. (optional)
- Whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until pale and smooth.
- Whisk the milk, cream, vanilla, and ground cinnamon into the egg mixture to make a custard.
- Pour the custard evenly over the bread and press the chunks down to submerge them.
- Let the dish soak undisturbed until the bread is saturated, about 10 minutes.
- Bake the pudding until puffed, golden, and just set with the center barely jiggling, about 35 minutes.
- Rest the pudding 10 minutes, then serve it warm.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is one of the great thrift desserts of the Anglo-American kitchen, a baked custard built to rescue stale bread that would otherwise be thrown out. Torn chunks of day-old bread are packed into a buttered dish, scattered with raisins, and soaked in a custard of eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla until every piece is saturated. As it bakes, the exposed tops crisp and caramelize while the submerged interior turns soft and spoonable, so a single serving gives you both a burnished, chewy crust and a tender, almost creamy center.
The appeal is textural contrast held together by a warm, vanilla-and-cinnamon custard that tastes richer than its humble parts suggest. This version leans on a proper soak — a full ten minutes of resting undisturbed before baking — which is what separates a cohesive pudding from a soggy or dry one, since it lets the bread drink the custard all the way through. Serve it warm, ideally the day it's made, on its own or with a pour of cream, custard, or a scoop of ice cream. It's a forgiving dish for a crowd and a natural finish to a cold-weather supper.
Bread Pudding: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Bread Pudding?
One serving of Bread Pudding has about 318 calories, with 10g of protein, 36g of carbs, 15g of fat and 2g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Bread Pudding gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Bread. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Bread Pudding dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Milk, Butter. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Bread Pudding take to make?
About 60 minutes start to finish, but only around 14 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Bread Pudding?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out cream, ground cinnamon, raisins — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Bread Pudding make?
This recipe makes 6 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.