Sunday, October 7, 2007

Mary Jane’s Bread Pudding

Mary Jane's Bread PuddingThis is the bread pudding I’ve been pondering for the past month and I mentioned in this review. It’s based on the flavors of a Molasses Peanut Butter Kiss (also Mary Janes, as the name implies): sticky peanut butter, sticky molasses and creamy custard.

I made this recipe based on the bread pudding recipe I’ve been using for years in The New York Times Cookbook (I have a first edition, I don’t know if this is in subsequent editions): New England Bread Pudding. I’ve never actually followed the recipe as written, I’ve always mucked around with it.

This bread pudding has a base, mild flavor of peanut butter with a little woodsy hit of molasses that’s mixed into the milk & egg custard base. There’s actually no refined sugar in here (except for whatever was used in the bread). Bread pudding is pretty hard to mess up, so feel free to alter proportions, just be sure to cook it completely.

  • 2 1/2 cups of dried bread (approximately 8 slices)
  • 3 cups of milk (whole milk provides a creamier texture, I used 1% for this recipe)
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1/3 cup of peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup of dark molasses (unsulfured)
  • 1/3 cup of whiskey or rum (optional - if omitting substitute a tablespoon of vanilla extract)
  • 4 large eggs

  • image

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

    Cube or pull apart the bread. Bread can be stale or fresh, but let it dry out a bit if possible. Set aside.

    In a large pot that will hold all of the above ingredients (approximately 2 quarts) put in the milk and butter. Heat over medium until milk starts to scald. Turn down to low and add peanut butter and molasses, whisk to combine (or if you like things rather freeform, just stir). Add whiskey. Scramble the eggs in a separate bowl, then add about a half a cup of the hot milk mixture slowly, combine then add to milk mixture in pot.

    Combine and allow contents to warm up to just under a boil. It will thicken slightly with the addition of the eggs.

    Turn off burner. Add bread, stir gently then allow to sit for five minutes.

    Prepare your baking dish. For mine I used four ramekins that hold 12 ounces each. You can make it all in one dish (one that holds 48 ounces - pick something that won’t be more than 3” deep or else it won’t cook completely in the center). Whatever you choose, you’ll need a pan a bit larger to use as a water bath. Place the smaller pan into the large pan. You can grease it if you want, I don’t and it doesn’t seem to make a bit of difference.

    Optional: drizzle some molasses in the bottom of the baking dish. This gives it a bit of a sauce on the bottom, but if you’re not fond of molasses (why are you making this?) then you can omit this step.

    Scoop the pudding mixture with a measuring cup or ladle into the ramekins or baking dish. Make sure it’s spread evenly. I crumbled a little brown sugar on top to make a crust, but feel free to omit.

    Put the pan into the preheated oven. Add water to the larger pan, about an inch or two. (Make sure this doesn’t dry out.) Yes, you can add the water before you put it in, but this makes it very heavy and more likely to spill.

    Bake for 40-60 minutes. In order to check for done-ness, listen to hear if the butter is sizzling around the edges. Also, the pudding will pull away from the sides a bit. Insert a knife into the pudding about one inch from the side. If it comes out clean and hot, it’s probably done. Shake the pan gently and see if the center has a more liquid “jiggle” than the rest. If so, leave in another five minutes. Repeat the above. If you bake it a little longer, that’s okay too, just make sure that the water bath doesn’t evaporate.

    Allow to cool and set up before serving. Can be refrigerated and served cold or warmed up in a microwave or oven.

    Serving suggestion: A la mode or with some whipped cream. Drizzle a little extra molasses and or peanut butter on if desired.

    Makes 8-12 servings

    The bread pudding is rather hearty and filling, so I’d suggest it as a winter dessert. I also think it’s a mighty fine breakfast. (I know, some people think that’s crazy, but really, how different is bread pudding from French toast when you think about it?) I’m planning on making this again with an egg bread and possibly more peanut butter. I’ll report back with any findings.

    Related Candies

    1. Elvis Reese’s Peanut Butter and Banana Cup
    2. Chocolate Hellfire Chip Cookies
    3. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
    4. Panda Bars

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:35 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyRecipesReviewPeanuts7-Worth It

    Comments
    1. this sounds delicious.  i’m going to have to try it.

      Comment by Marissa on 10/07/07 at 7:22 pm #
    2. do you know if the milk can be substituted with soymilk?

      Comment by suebee on 10/08/07 at 7:13 am #
    3. Cybele's avatar

      suebee - I’ve seen lots of recipes that successfully substitute soy milk. However, if I were doing a dairy free version, I’d probably opt for almond milk or rice milk, soy has it’s own sort of flavor I’m not sure goes well with peanut butter. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

      Comment by Cybele on 10/08/07 at 7:23 am #
    4. That sounds delightful and I agree re: breakfast.

      Comment by Scott on 10/11/07 at 4:45 am #
    5. Love your blog.  This looks so delicious but I think I’d eat too much of it!

      Comment by Tree on 10/11/07 at 5:49 am #
    6. Dear Cybele - I meant to tell you, this sounds really tasty but you may want to try making it with croissants.  I think the butter in the baked goods with the p.b. and molasses would be good.  Mom

      Comment by Eva on 10/16/07 at 4:17 am #
    7. Mmmmmmm must try this soon!

      Comment by Carrie on 10/25/07 at 9:18 am #
    8. So I made this over the weekend and substituted the milk with almond milk.  I think I might have screwed up the process along the way, but it still came out looking delicious!  Unfortunately, it doesn’t completely taste that way.  Some of it tastes great, some of it doesn’t.  Pretty strange.  Maybe I didn’t mix it well…or maybe I’m not fond of molasses (I’ve never tried it before until now)... or maybe it was the almond milk…or maybe I really did mess up on one (or all!) of the steps.  Although when I do top it with peanut butter, it all tastes fantastic! smile

      Comment by suebee on 10/29/07 at 4:35 am #
    9. Hi all,
      his looks so delicious but I think I’d eat too much of it!So I made this over the weekend and substituted the milk with almond milk.  I think I might have screwed up the process along the way, but it still came out looking delicious!

      Comment by Shawn01 on 4/28/10 at 4:01 am #
    10. my favorite breakfast joint makes a bread pudding french toast .. so you’re definitely not alone in thinking them similar. ( the outcome is heaven by the way )

      Comment by joni on 7/01/10 at 11:09 am #
    11. Might I suggest chocolate dipped white/black tortilla chips.
      Also making a heath bar styled candy that seems to be a bit of a New England thing. It just seams to be caramel, in a cookie sheet with a layer of Saltine crackers, cooled then a bit of butter and then chocolate, then frozen. There messy, melty, sloppy, gooey, crunchy, lovely things^^.

      Also I made this “thing” once my mother refers to as “teddy bear” fudge… I just took melted chocolate in a bowl and mixed as much of any brown spice I could find in my spice rack into it. (Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cocoa powder).

      I just poured it into a bread loaf pan and chilled. The stuff is hard as a rock and grainy but marvelous to suck on with a cup of hot chocolate and a sappy romance movie. You could probably come up with something wonderful^^

      Comment by Jenni-Li on 1/02/11 at 8:11 pm #
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