What to do with a pile of left over pop overs? Make bread pudding of course! I love bread pudding and it's so easy to make. But let's be real, it's pretty easy to find a terrible bread pudding too. I love cooking because it's equal parts science and passion and that's my style through and through.
To make the bread pudding I cubed the remaining pop overs from the night before and put them in a large mixing bowl. Next my hubby and I mixed up the batter. The exact measurements will vary depending on the size of your batch. In fact after we made our batter we realized we needed more so we added another egg and a bit more milk and it was great. Trust your gut!
The batter should be much like a sweet French toast batter. Heavy on the eggs, a fair amount of milk, sugar, brown sugar and whatever seasoning you'd like it to have. We've done traditional here, with raisins, cinnamon, a little nutmeg and clove. In the past we've done batters with vanilla and orange zest, or even chocolate. In any case you want to make sure you've got enough to coat all the bread. Add the raisins to the bread and toss together.
Next coat the bread cubes and let them soak right in the baking pan. They should soak for at least 10-15 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to gently press down on the bread cubes to allow the batter to be absorbed through all layers. All the bread should be coated and soaking but not fully submerged. Remember, think French toast!
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 deg F for about 60 minutes. Check it's progress half way through and rotate it 180 degrees. Check another 20 minutes after that and if the top is starting to burn cover it in foil loosely. You want to see the custard set fully before removing from the oven. When finished the egg and sugar will have given the top a beautiful glaze with a small crunch. The inside will be warm and soft, easily cut through with a fork or butter knife. The raisins are soft and warm and the bread is held together by the amazingly sweet, delicious custard. It's blissful!
What's even better is that these pop overs we a bit lacking in the flavor department and would have been a hard sell for the family otherwise. In truth they may have even been destined for the compost. Now they've been more than salvaged, they've been integral in greatness!
See? Simplicity and happiness all with very minimal effort. This baby even scored me major mom points when I let the girls have it for a breakfast treat with their fruit this morning! Awesome.
Simple City Sam
Mom points on the other end too because while sitting with the girls I had to snitch a bite and ended up eating a hunk. This was AMAZING and I don't like bread pudding as a rule.
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