Bread Pudding Bliss

Last Sunday it was a dreary, yucky day in London. Cloudy, grey, cold- living up to its reputation. And it perfectly complimented the mood I was in. Having gotten little sleep the night before and not waking up until nearly noon, I was in no mood to face the day. And what does one do on a day like that? Make comfort food, of course. I had a loaf of bread that I had bought at a local bakery the day before, some dried fruit, soy milk, agave nectar and few other surprises that I found in the cabinet at the apartment I was looking after (shout out to Alex and her amazing pantry!). Basically, bread pudding was begging to be made.

I'm not sure if the bread I used was vegan or not, but if you are strictly vegan, that is the only concern you should have when making this recipe. The rest is pure and simple vegan ingredients that come together and make a panful of magical goodness. Maybe it's all the Indian food I've been eating, but I was compelled to put in a dash of rosewater extract and a couple of teaspoons of cardamom. Very subtle flavors that make every bite mysteriously delicious.

My pudding turned out more soggy than I think bread pudding is supposed to be because my bread was very fresh and I could not be bothered to let it get slightly stale or even to put it in the oven for a few minutes. That would be my only complaint with the batch I made, so I recommend using stale bread or toasting it for a couple of minutes so it can hold its own in a panful of milk. Other than that, this recipe comes together in a snap and creates minimal dirty dishes. Which is good on a day when you have lots of laying around on the couch to do.

This recipe is made up of what I thought would make a good bread pudding but this is just a base for tons of things you could do. The next time I make one I can see maybe adding sliced apples and pears, perhaps some peaches and plums, different flavoring such as rum or brandy, different dried fruits, nuts, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, cinnamon raisin bread, hearty whole wheat bread (I used white- I know- shame on me), banana bread.....the list goes on and on. Let this be a base for you and let me know what kind of amazing creations you come up with in your kitchen!

what you will need:

a baking pan that holds approximately 3 cups of liquid
mixing bowl
whisk

ingredients:

4-5 C stale or toasted bread
2 1/2 C soy milk
1/2 C agave nectar
1 C dried fruit (I used a mixture of raisins and dried citrus- but go for whatever, just make sure it's chopped small)
1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 tsp rosewater extract
2 tsp cardamom
earth balance butter or coconut butter to grease the pan

how to assemble:

-preheat oven to 350 degrees

-grease the baking dish

-chop or tear bread into small pieces. think one inch by one inch and place in baking dish

-whisk together soy milk, agave nectar, extracts and cardamom until well combined

-pour the soy milk mixture over the bread and sprinkle the dried fruit over the entire thing- pushing everything down a bit so the bread is immersed and the fruit sinks a bit

-let it sit for about 15-20 minutes so the bread can really soak up the flavors

-bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top is brown and the whole thing is bubbly

-let it sit for at least 15 minutes before digging in....if you can stand it

this will probably keep in the fridge for several days, but i doubt that it will last that long. enjoy!