Monday, November 23, 2009

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!

8 comments:

Justin said...

the funny thing is that I clicked through to read this precisely because I am not a big pumpkin pie fan, so I was curious if this was a good alternative... thanks

Dee said...

Justin, I'd choose this over pumpkin pie any day! It seems like a complicated dessert to throw together, but it's really nothing once you have the bread made. Of course if you can buy the pumpkin bread, it's a cinch.

Manggy said...

Happy thanksgiving! Yeah, I would've thought rosemary would have given this an odd flavor :) I didn't know (or just forgot) you were back in school!

Lars said...

WHAT! NO PRESENTS?! ...

Pumpkin bread looks great. But WHAT! NO PRESENTS?!

dp said...

Manggy, yes, I'm back in school, but just for a short time. Until June. Working on getting my teaching license.

Lars, haha! Actually I was thinking of sending Tove some Korean chili powder. She forgot to take some the last time she was here. I could send you some too. How's that for a present? LOL

Cookie baker Lynn said...

What a gorgeous way to enjoy pumpkin. I haven't gotten sick of it yet - so much pumpkin, so little time.

Lars said...

korean chili powder would be a perfect present! :-)

Mary Bergfeld said...

Darlene, this sounds just wonderful. I hope you had a wonderful holiday.