Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I'm generally terrible at posting things in time for holidays and special events, but I promised myself I was going to post something before Thanksgiving, even if it meant losing sleep. Fortunately, I haven't lost any sleep getting this done. This post, instead, cuts into my essay-writing time. Yes, sleeping and blogging are higher on the list than finishing any of the gazillion essays I have due in the next 2 weeks. I hope none of my instructors are reading this.



If you're not a big pumpkin pie fan, this pumpkin bread pudding is a good alternative. And you get to kill two birds turkeys with one stone. Let me explain. The pumpkin bread recipe makes such a large amount that you'll have enough to feed 8 to 10 people at dinner and make this dessert. How awesome is that?

For the pumpkin bread, I used this recipe posted by Sass and Veracity. However, I left out the rosemary because I knew I wanted to make a dessert with some of the bread and I'm not particularly fond of rosemary. And if you're wondering, I always use canned pumpkin to save time. Works same same, as they say :-)

The pudding recipe I always use is this one I found on All Recipes. How much bread will you need? Just enough to fill up an 8x8 pan. That's a little more than the 6 slices called for in the original recipe and I think it results in a more dense pudding. You may also consider substituting half and half for any part of the whole milk. Since the pumpkin bread doesn't have raisins, I threw those in. Or you could use a mix of raisin bread and pumpkin bread. If you decide to serve with the caramel sauce, you may consider cutting down on the sugar a bit. I think I used 2/3 cup.

I'm not even going to attempt to explain how to make caramel and luckily there are plenty of recipes and instruction on the Interwebs. It's easy once you've done it a couple times, but if you're a first timer, read through the method explained on Simply Recipes. Elise's method is easy to follow and her recipe makes a fairly thick sauce. I like my sauce thinner so I tend to use more liquid. No, the liquid does not need to be cream. I've used milk before and it was fine. For the sauce I made to go with the pumpkin bread pudding, I used 1 cup sugar, 1/2 stick butter, 1/4 cup coffee mixed with about 1/2 cup half and half.

The finishing touch is the whipped cream, but boy, wouldn't a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top just be spectacular?

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!