Loaf Around

Found: Bread Pudding Sold by Woman in Thompson Square Park

(Via James Nord)

foodgasm:

Bread & Butter Pudding

caterpillarcowboy:

Maple Bread Pudding at Beast in Brooklyn.

I took Will here after we finished loading up the U-Haul. My treat, of course.

Looks like Loaf Around is going to have to make a field trip to Brooklyn soon!

Caramel-Banana Bread Pudding - BP Prep

There is probably no more reliable source for a recipe than Bon Appetit. Check out this resoundingly successful recipe (trust us, it’s heaven).  Note: the recipe we’re providing is adapted, we made a couple of changes for a “slightly healthier” version… it that could even really exist.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups purchased caramel sauce (Hershey’s will do)
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 10 5x3 1/2-inch slices of white sandwich bread
• 3 medium bananas, peeled, thinly sliced on diagonal into 1 1/2-inch ovals
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups fat free half and half
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 2 1/2 tablespoons splenda, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions: Preheat broiler. Spray baking pan with non-stick spray. Mix caramel sauce and 1/4 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Toast bread and then place flat on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread 1 generous tablespoon caramel over each bread slice. Broil until caramel is bubbling and slightly darker, watching to avoid burning (around 1 to 2 minutes). Take out of the broiler and let cool. Cut each bread slice into 6 squares. Set 1 banana slice on each bread square. Arrange 6 banana-topped bread squares standing on edge, side by side in baking pan, fitting snugly. Whisk eggs, half and half, milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Pour custard over the bread in the baking pan. Let stand until bread absorbs some of custard, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Melt unsalted butter and brush exposed bread pieces with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon splenda over the top.
Bake bread pudding until set and knife inserted into custard comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from pan and let it cool.  Plate the bread pudding and drizzle warm caramel sauce over the top.  More sauce = more goodness.

Caramel-Banana Bread Pudding - Panning It

Caramel-Banana Bread Pudding - Bringing Together the B & P

Caramel-Banana Bread Pudding - Dig In

This recipe was perfection.  The bread, the pudding, the banana… and oh, the caramel sauce.  That’s the real trick here.  Serve this bread pudding hot and warm caramel sauce drizzled on top.  We were big fans of the entire combination, and so were all of our friends who happily ate the rest of the dessert.

If you want a truly decant, insanely delicious dessert, we might even recommend taking the original recipe from Bon Appetit and not using the changes we made to make it even just a tiny bit healthier.  Check it out here.

Have left over bagels from this weekend’s Mother’s Day brunch? Test out this bread pudding recipe from The Leftover Queen:

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups of bagel pieces
3 ½ cups of whole milk
½ cup of caramel coffee creamer
3 eggs
½ cup melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 c. shredded coconut
¾ cup chocolate chips
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 350º F. Butter a large baking dish. Place bagel pieces into baking dish, sprinkle with coconut and chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, coffee creamer, eggs, melted butter, vanilla and sugar. Once sugar has melted, pour custard over the bagel pieces and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream… but really it should be covered in both.

Enjoy!

Bread & Butter Pudding from Jarnac in the West Village.

This dessert honestly tasted like the best cinnamon bun you’ve ever tried.  The consistency was perfect.

In fact this bread pudding was so good that I had to take an awful photo of it on my Blackberry.

Note to self, always bring camera when dining out.

Up next: Caramel-Banana Bread Pudding from Bon Appetit

Stay tuned.