Baked Bread Pudding with Cinnamon and Meringue
Cubed stale bread soaked in warm vanilla-butter milk and egg custard, topped with cinnamon and raisins, then crowned with apricot jam meringue and baked until golden. Served warm with custard cream, jam, or ice cream.
Ingredients
- 11 oz stale bread, cut into cubes
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 3 pieces eggs, medium-sizeflax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax + 9 tbsp water)as writtenvegan
binds differently, meringue cannot be made
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- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 ¾ oz raisins
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
Instructions
- 1
Heat milk in a pan with butter and vanilla sugar.
- 2
Separate egg whites from yolks. Beat yolks with sugar until pale and thick.
- 3
Temper the yolks by slowly pouring hot milk while stirring constantly until temperatures equalize.
- 4
Grease an oven-safe bowl with butter. Add bread cubes and pour the hot milk mixture over them.
- 5
Press the bread gently so pieces absorb the milk. Let sit for two to three minutes, sprinkling cinnamon powder and raisins over top.
- 6
Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 7
Bake for 20 minutes.
- 8
While baking, beat egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in apricot jam.
- 9
Remove bowl from oven. Spread meringue on top.
- 10
Bake for another 10 minutes until meringue turns golden.
Tips
Temper egg yolks gradually to avoid scrambling when combining with hot milk.
Use truly stale bread; fresh bread will become mushy rather than absorbing custard.
Fold jam gently into meringue to retain volume.
Good to Know
Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat gently before serving.
Assemble through step 7 (before meringue). Refrigerate up to 12 hours. Add meringue and bake as directed.
Serve warm with custard cream, jam, fresh fruit, or vanilla ice cream.
Common Mistakes
Do not add hot milk too quickly to yolks to avoid scrambling.
Do not skip the resting period to ensure bread fully absorbs the custard.
Do not overbake the meringue topping to prevent hardening.
Substitutions
Dairy-Free Swaps
Vegan Options
binds differently, meringue cannot be made
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