bread pudding

My cousin's wife posted in facebook a photograph of a bread and butter pudding baked by her.  Inspired, I decided to bake a bread pudding too.

The good thing about bread pudding is that you can use leftover bread that you have stored in the refrigerator.  Waste not, want not!

For this bread pudding, I baked a simple version using white sandwich bread and raisins.  Nearer to Christmas, I am thinking about baking a Christmas version using perhaps the Gardenia Fruit & Nut Loaf.

If you intend to serve the bread pudding to guests, you may want to make a pudding sauce to go with the bread pudding.  (You can find a recipe for pudding sauce in pudding sauce recipe)  For us, as the bread pudding was for own consumption, I did not make the pudding sauce.

INGREDIENTS

6 sliced white sandwich bread
2 tbsp butter (melted)
1/2 cup raisins
4 eggs (at room temperature)
2 cups low fat milk
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line a 9" square baking pan with baking paper.

3. Cut the bread into cubes and spread them out on the baking pan.

4. Drizzle the melted butter over the bread.

5. Sprinkle the raisins onto the bread.

6. Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl using a hand whisk.

7. Pour the wet mixture over the bread.

8. Use a fork to press down the bread until the bread is soaked with the wet mixture.

9. Bake for 45 minutes.