pumpkin bread pudding
It was so easy that despite being at my wit’s end after Tuesday night’s fiasco, I made it anyway. Burrowing our spoons into still warm, bourbon-spiked (like I could resist) sweet fall comfort was heavenly, and as I chewed on those buttery bread cubes and pondered the ginger’s edginess, memories of cooking failures fell away, and there was just this, a blissful and eerily wholesome calm.
There is utter genius is combining two of life’s great pleasures, baked French toast and pumpkin pie, into something you could as easily eat for dessert as a decadent brunch side dish. If you dot it with vanilla bean flecked yogurt, I don’t think people would remember a single other thing you made. And if you invited me over, I might never leave.
Hey Deb, did you actually redecorate your site to match your dish? Why no, but I am so glad you asked! I am a little late to it this week, but I am joining The Food Bank’s NYC Goes Orange Campaign to do what I can to help them raise funds for the holiday season, and have “gone orange,” so to speak. The campaign runs from Oct. 15 through tomorrow, but I am going to keep it going a little longer. You can use the button to your right to donate, if you wish. We put our money where our pumpkin bread pudding-filled mouths were and made a donation this morning.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, October 2007
I made a few of my own adaptations to this, using only milk and no cream (to me, it makes no difference to me in dishes like this, so I figure I’ll give my arteries a break), and doubling almost all of the spices. Oh, and I added bourbon, but you probably anticipated that.
1 1/2 cups whole milk (Or 1 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup whole milk)
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
5 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old baguette or crusty bread
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted* (can skip this step if using the second set of instructions)
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Gourmet’s Instructions: Whisk together pumpkin, cream, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, spices and bourbon, if using, in a bowl.
Toss bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
Alternate, Come On, Be Lazy With Me, instructions: While preheating oven to 350°F with rack in middle, melt butter in bottom of a 8-inch square baking dish. Once it is melted, take it out of the oven and toss bread cubes with butter, coating thoroughly. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the remaining ingredients. Pour them over buttered bread cubes in baking dish, stirring to make sure all pieces are evenly coated. Bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
LOL, for a minute there I thought you were going Sandra Lee on our asses by matching your site to the food you made (can you say TABLESCAPES??). The bread pudding looks absolutely delicious. I’m such a sucker for all things bread…
omg deb (yes, i omg-ed), it’s as if you read my mind. just last night i pondered how one might make pumpkin bread pudding (as i, like most others around this time, have leftover pumpkin puree from other recipes). thank you for secretly reading my thoughts to help my desires come alive!
This looks absolutely delicious! I think I’m definitely going to make it this weekend – maybe I can turn my non-pumpkin loving husband around?
Thanks!
Ooh, I love anything pumpkin, but I can’t stomach bread pudding. I can’t get past the wet bread stage. It’s completely psychological, but I can see why this would be a good idea. If you liked bread pudding, that is. :)
I like this rusty autumnal theme! But, as Clare suggests, it is rather semi-homemade to change one’s theme with the dish at hand, which I generally cannot condone.
Yum, I’ll have to try this – I just posted on my pumpkin bread baking endeavors – all these pumpkin things in the air!!
I don’t know where to start….yes I do….THANKS! I discovered your site when a friend living in Buenos Aires had it on her blog – I checked in and three hours later checked out….feeling very well fed, indeed! I loved reading your blog, and can’t wait to try out more of your recipes (today I made the butternut squash and onion galette – fabulous!) You now have another number one fan, in Seattle…Me!
I love the lazy directions….seriously, how many dishes to they have to wash over there at Gourmet? I have dishpan hands just thinking about it!
Oh, lovely! Pumpkin anything rocks my world. And bread pudding? And brandy? You are my best friend right about now.
Deb – glad you finally had some success! Plus some alcohol! Does it get any better, really? Great pics and tips, as usual. Thanks, hun (as we say in Baltimore)!
Hey Deb – So, this past summer I made the berry bread pudding you wrote about in “A little sweet for your suffering”… and I did it with the Angel Food Cake. FANTASTIC! And I have to say, after mixing the berries in the pot on the stove, it was pretty much the best spoon-lick ever. So – I’m thinking about trying a fall version of it with Apples, Pears, and Persimmons, and using cinnamon sugar instead of just sugar… What do you (and anyone else here) think?
Clare — What scares me more is that I am exactly OCD enough to wish to have multiple color schemes so the site can always match. I mean, I never wear brown shoes with black pants, why should my blog? Is it a slippery slope from here to Kwanzaa Celebration Cake?
Jonathan — Not only do I think you should, I think you should send me some. I found in the end that I much preferred that fruit compote over angel food cake, rather than the soaked bread. I bet I would love this, as well. Plus, it’s a dessert that keeps. Fruit kept in one container in the fridge. Cake can be good for days at room temp.)
I am thrilled that you’re back in your groove, cooking-wise!
I thought once, for about 8 years, that I was allergic to pumpkin. Last year, I just decided I wasn’t, and let me say, that the re-addition of pumpkin to my diet is just oh so welcome. I’ve found the perfect recipe for pumpkin squares (a more moist version of pumpkin bread) that is getting made about once a week around my house (my co-workers love and hate me simultaneously for starting the holiday eating early).
I may have to give this recipe a try…Costco and your giant cans of pumpkin, here I come!
Love this. And I have stale bread to boot. Thanks for dessert!
OOh, I want Sarah’s pumpkin squares recipe – jessica dot diettrich at gmail dot com.
Pumpkin mixed with weather getting colder and crisper, ahhhh! Heaven. I’m writing this one down for sure. My husband loves bread pudding, he’ll be begging me to make this recipe again and again after he’s tasted it…Thanks!
I love you still, Smitten Woman. Bread pudding: could there be any autumn dish more satisfying for both people and bank accounts? Will so so so be giving this a try.
Ah, yes, bread pudding is a beautiful thing. It always comes out perfectly, there’s no fuss, and it uses up leftovers. What more could you ask for?
Bread pudding is surely what the kitchen gods had in mind when they invented bread. Adding pumpkin to the mix should get a Nobel Prize.
I can’t wait to get out of college so that I can have a kitchen and try some of these things. For now, I guess I’ll have to stick to my Easy Bake Oven….
I’m not much of a baker, but I think even I could follow this recipe. It looks amazing, and so wonderfully….orange!
OH YUM! This weekend I’m baking pumpkin pecan bars. If I have any pumpkin leftover I KNOW it’s going into this bread pudding. And, I could give a rats ass about my pants. (Yeah, I’m back on the darkside…for a bit.)
Yay! I am making this this weekend! :)
Ooh! I am crazy for bread pudding in both sweet and savory versions. I thought my recent apple challah bread pudding was as autumnal as one could get but this is something else altogether. I’ll be trying it out soon as your recipes are always winners!
Aww man that was so great. I’m now the most popular person in college during midterms– hands down. What a treat!
I’ve been thinking about bread pudding and now I have the perfect recipe to try–and I can get rid of that pumpkin that’s been sitting on my counter for ages. Thanks!
Almost speechless. I am Peruvian and have grown up with my grandma making me bread pudding. It is by far the most underrated dessert of ALL time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Oh sooooo good!!! I’ll have to add this to my pumpkin collection of recipes…and have pumpkin EVERYTHING for an entire day sometime soon. Pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin soup, pumpkin roll, pumpkin spice bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, and pumpkin cookies… Who wants to join me in this fabulous spicey feast?!?! I’ve got a whole batch of homemade pumpkin puree in the freezer just begging to be used. :)
what’s funny is that I just made a very similar recipe, also from Gourment…just last week! It had raisins, though, and a caramel sauce, and was made with egg bread… yummmmmmmm
So glad your funk is over. BAck to regularly scheduled amazing meals, thank you very much.
Oh and BTW I noticed that you did not RSVP for any of the punk band shows i told you about this weekend. Last night was the first one. You only have Bed-Stuy & Greenpoint left. Get on it! And wear you best punk rock outfit!
My sister emailed me a link to this post and wrote one sentence: i want to eat the whole pan of this.
I think that was a hint that she wants it for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for her, a) we’re going to be in Texas; b) I hate anything pumpkin.
But you have her salivating.
This is a wonderful recipe to have in my arsenal as the holiday season approaches. Thank you.
Do you think it would work prepped ahead of time and reheated?
I can be lazy and get deliciousness? I’m so there.
Amazing timing! It’s finally acting like autumn in Indiana, and this is going to go phenomenally well with my backyard bonfire-and-bourbonated-hot-cider party tonight. Thank you!
I’ve been wanted to dig into this recipe myself! I am pumpkin/spice obsessed this time of year. Oooh that looks yummy.
I’d already cut this out and was planning on it soon. Funnily enough, I swear that when clipping it, I thought of you and wondered if it was one you’d be making! And here you are! So glad it was easy and came out great. Yes, Gourmet’s pumpkin-y recipes always seem to need double the spices. Thanks for your good humor through the disasters. No matter how seasoned a cook you are, they always seem to happen just often enough to keep you humble!
Oh my gosh! This recipe sounds so deeLish and the photos only make my mouth water even more. I will definitely try making this dish and will be sure and credit you and your site with it whenever I serve it. Thank you for such a great site. junemoon
You read my mind! I’ve been dreaming of delicious things to do with pumpkins all day long!
oh my goodness, what a lovely-looking bread pudding!! I have never thought of using pumpkin for bread pudding… so innovative and festive for the autumn season!! :0)
P.S. – Silly me, I forgot to mention: I’m happy to hear that you were able to fully enjoy this bread pudding, and NOT think about “cooking failures” (everything you make looks perfect to me!)
Sounds like an excellent treat! I love anything pumpkin and I like how you simplified the instructions. :)
Whenever I venture from Reno, NV to San Francisco, I have a favorite litte restaurant in the Castro where I always have the banana bread pudding for dessert. Bread pudding. Made from banana bread. Unbelievably good. I’m now considering how to make the bread pudding here from actual pumpkin bread and wondering if the subtraction of some sugar would make it all work out, especially when considering the addition of a bourbon sauce.
I made this tonite and while yummy was a bit eggy for me…maybe my bread should have been more dry…to guild the lily, I sprinkled a few cinnamon chips on top which was great. Will make again and cut back on the egg.
I made this today to take to over to some friends, and it was very tasty. I think maybe I didn’t have enough bread, though (even though I threw in a little extra beyond the recommended 5 cups) and I echo KT’s comment above that it probably should have been a bit more stale. Nonetheless, it was quite tasty and will likely be made again with some small tweaks. Thanks, Deb!
I love this! I’ve been craving a pumpkin spiced *something* different and this sounds heavenly.
Thanks, Deb!
MMMmmmmm. I am going to have to think of the appropriate punishment for you two for not showing up to ANY of the Underground Railroad to Candyland shows in Brooklyn this weekend!
I made this today and it was fantastic, especially warm from the oven. I used some cinnamon bread and made a bit more of the custard mixture – I like bread pudding pretty moist on the bottom and chewy on top. I also melted the butter in the pan as you suggested, but let it brown just a little bit. Thanks for the great fall recipe!
Deb, are the spice amounts you list here the original amounts, or what you doubled them to? I also tend to go way heavy on the spices, but I don’t want to quadruple them by accident….
this made a fabulous sunday-morning fall breakfast. i used a combination of apple-raisin-spice bread and pecan-raisin bread and found the occasional bites with fruit and nut to be a delicious addition. thanks for the recipe!
Meagan — Absolutely.
Kristin — The amounts above are already doubled, and I found it to be a nice level. Hope you like it.
I think it needs cinnamon ice cream on top. Lol! Sounds incredible!
This recipe inspired what I call an “autumnly fally” dinner party with friends, and it was a hit! We combined other autumnly fally food such as butternut squash sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar, and turkey meatloaf. Combine those tasty items with great wine, and boy oh boy we had a great time!! Thanks for the inspiration! -Texas
Made this for dessert last night, and it was YUMMY! Even my picky 11-year-old ate it and loved it. (I couldn’t convince the picky 8-year-old but, eh, more for me this way right?)
We indulged all the way and topped the warm bread pudding with a little vanilla bean ice cream. Soooooooo good.
I was thrilled when I saw this, wanting to jump on the Fall bandwagon. I made it yesterday and after 1/2 hr in the oven it was still runny. I left it in longer, with the middle still too mushy, almost wet but the top started to burn and crisp too much. I felt disheartened by my mush of bread pudding, it having been my first real baking diseaster. I thought of you and the flan, thinking, it’s okay the best don’t always succeed. What did I do wrong?? Could it have been my oven? It can be tempermental but that seemed a little weird.
I made this last night and it was delicious. My husband’s favorite desert is bread pudding, but he said the pumpkin version is superior. I think I’ll be making this for holidays rather than regular pumpkin pie.
I don’t even *like* bread pudding, but this was awesome.
Imagine my surprise when flipping through Philly Style magazine and I see Deb’s face staring up at me! You deserve all the recognition! Your site is the best!
thank you deb! made this last night with a handful of toasted pecans tossed in and i’ve been dreaming about it all morning!!
this provided a break for our pumpkin-carving session last night. it was perfect right between scooping the guts and doing the carving. so good. i told my husband, “the more i eat this, the more i like it,” and he said, “mmhmhhmm!”
ooh – I’ll have to try the pecans next time, Becca.
I made it with the heavy cream because I had some on hand that needed to be used up. I would NOT recommend it. With all the butter, etc, it curdled a bit and was waaay too rich.
The recipe itself is AMAZING! Even though our version was a bit too rich, we still managed to eat it all in small servings. :) Also, I bought ice cream to go over it (cinnamon dulce de leche!) but because of the aformentioned richness, it didn’t sound so good so we skipped it.
I think next time I’ll let it sit for 30 minutes before baking to soak up the custard better.
I think this could be divine with a bit of real maple syrup drizzled over the top.
Thanks for giving me this year’s go-to fall recipe! Yumm!
Wow–this was so freakin’ good I can’t even begin to describe it. My family hoovered down a double batch in under 24 hours. We decided it was a perfectly respectable breakfast :-) Thanks so much!
This sounds like the most perfect fall dessert. Makes my mouth water, here at 9:50 am sitting in my office!
This was wonderful…I plan to impress the family at Thanksgiving.
One more comment on the bread pudding. My son got his braces on today and his mouth is very painful. I asked him of there was any soft food he might like and he immediately asked for the pumpkin bread pudding–his very own pan of it!
This looks great, I will save this for the holidays. I really like your site.
Two words: MORE BOURBON. Seriously, I loved this dessert – so simple, so delicious, very few dishes to do, and I second the thought that it also makes a wonderful breakfast, if any of it actually makes it to morning. And I’m not even much of a drinker, but the bourbon hardly registered. Next time (and oh yes, there will be a next time) I’ll try it with more booze.
I was also too eager to wait around for bread to go stale so I sliced up a baguette, put the slices on a cookie sheet and popped them in the oven while it pre-heated. Not toasted, just dry. (I also went for less dairy and opted for a combo of soy milk and Silk creamer instead. And 3 whole eggs as I hate having separated egg portions around. It still turned out beautifully!) Thanks Deb!
I made this tonight and it was scrumptious! Thank you!
This is probably a silly question, but I’ve never made bread pudding before. About how many cups of cubed bread will a standard-ish sized baguette yield?
I made this recipe this evening — fabulous! My boyfriend doesn’t like pumpkin pie, but he likes this. I topped our piping-hot-out-of-the-oven pieces with Haagen-Daz vanilla ice cream. Lovely end to a fall evening. Thanks!
Kate — I’m sorry I don’t have an approximation, but I can assure you that it will be way more than enough. I believe we used even a half-sized one, but I don’t want to leave you short if I remember incorrectly. Good luck!
Mmmmm! I made this yesterday for our Halloween party, and it was incredible. Sorta like the best baked french toast a girl could possibly imagine. The opposite of the lazy method, I baked a pumpkin and used 3/4 cup of the innards (the rest went towards making a pie), mashed. It taseted unbelievably fresh and made an excellent brunch treat, today!
Ok instead of whole milk or heavy cream does anybody know if it would be ok to use soymik?
I was actually disappointed in this recipe :( I couldn’t get my day old bread to cube the right way.. i even used an extra sharp bread knife.. most of the crust fell off… and there wasnt enough custard to cover all the bread cubes, so last minute i made extra custard (that i didnt measure out)…i dunno.. *shrugs*
I made the pumpkin bread pudding but wasn’t impressed….so I made it again and this time I added in an entire mini-bottle of my little friend, Jack Daniels. I think the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons – and I added in about 6 – trust me, it’s waaaaay better with more!
hi deb. made it last night. easy easy. big hit. everyone was raving. between 5 people it was GONE. i served mine with a very small dollop of doce de leche and a sprinkle of guerande salt. it was a winner all around. i’ll post on it soon giving you all the credit again!!! where would my blog be without YOU!
your friend in nashville of all places – claudia
I made this dish over the weekend for a potluck we were hosting. Big hit!! Totally perfect for the season =)
I am wondering if I can just use pumpkin pie spices for the spices??
I am thinking of making this for Thanksgiving at my inlaws.
Thanks.
This was delicious. After two hours of trying to get my baby to STAY ASLEEP already, I made this (with the bourbon, of course; my nerves were frazzled after all that crankiness) and it was so great. Thanks for the recipe, it was perfect comfort food.
How do you think it would be using eggnog (the kind from the carton) instead of milk? Is that too over the top? (I made a drink last week with light eggnog, canned pumpking, rum, ice, spice, blended — and it was insanley delicious). Also, if made and re-heated, any recommendations on how long & temp for the re-heat?
Deb,
This was great! I made it for Thanksgiving, and it was a huge hit. My boyfriend actually had his doubts when we were in the dinner-planning stages. He wanted pumpkin ice cream and spice bread pudding, but I stood my ground, arguing for pumpkin bread pudding and homemade cinnamon spice ice cream (which has a nice visual symmetry to pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream).
Well, it turned out fabulously, and the bf is smitten (with the pudding at least). I ended up subbing 1/4 c. of egg nog for some of the milk, because I’d run out ruining my first batch of ice cream. Skipped the bourbon, but the eggnog took care of boozy flavor. One other variation was swapping rustic cinnamon raisin walnut bread for 1 c. of the baguette.
I baked the bread pudding the night before in two 8″ round pans, and it kept beautifully.
Thanks for sharing!
and in the true spirit of excess, we topped it off with a drizzle of dulce de leche caramel. heaven!
Wow. I normally don’t comment on recipies, but incredible! I bought bread at Walmart in the bakery section – in a red bag. It was a crusty egg/french bread with sesame seeds. I cut it up into squares and let it sit out for a while until it very dried out. Then I mixed some pumpkin puree, sweetend condensed milk, salted butter and two eggs, beaten. I poured this over the stale bread, covering each peice, and put it in the oven until the top peices were golden brown. I think it was so much better because it wansn’t imersed in the liquid ixture. I made a caramel sauce to drizzle on top (butter, b.sugar & soy milk) then served hot with blue bel homemade vanilla ice cream. It was so unbelievable! Thanks for the great inspiration to try different things!
made this last night for my family and a few friends…absolute hit. :) in case anybody was curious, i needed to use five slices of regular sliced white bread, and i got the “day-old” dryness by sticking it in the oven for a couple of minutes. it made 9 fabulous servings; everyone loved it so much we had it for breakfast this morning, too (with french vanilla ice cream to boot). :D didn’t try the bourbon, but am looking forward to trying this again, perhaps with some orange flavoring/liqueur or maybe a light caramel sauce on top.
can’t wait to try some of the other things on here! :) thanks much.
Hi Deb,
I am addicted to your site here. Thanks for such an incredible source of delicious recipes. Before I make this, I just wanted to see if subbing skim milk would be ok. I wonder if it would bomb the recipe if I also used Splenda sugar? I’m not a sugar free kind of person, but am trying so hard to cut calories at the moment. Thoughts?
Many thanks! Kate
love bread pudding…pumpkin could only make it better! Thanks for all of the ideas and pictures!
yum. thanks so much.
for real – you’re my new kitchen hero. step aside ina.
Do you think the custard makings can be made ahead of time? I am thinking about using this as a dessert for a fall dinner party I am throwing, and could bake it fresh ifI can mix the custard the day before or that morning and refrigerate. Or, can it be cooked and then just reheated in the oven?
I just made this with croissants and it was SO GOOD. I’ve never tried it with the regular bread but it is very decadent dessert with croissants. This is definitely going on my Thanksgiving menu this year. Thanks!
Shari — I think you definitely can. You could also toast or stale the bread before-hand, and keep it in a bag until you are ready. This recipe is infinitely flexible. Good luck!
I was so excited when I found this! I LOVE bread pudding and wanted to find more pumpkin/festive recipes. I’d never made bread pudding before, in fact I cook way more than I bake and even then I usually only do basic cake box recipes. After struggling to get stale bread (wound up getting Publix to slice a loaf, though they were more like thin strips than cubes) I was able to make this. I used 1.5 cups water and 1.5 cups evaporated milk as a substitution for whole milk. I cooked it a bit over 30 minutes as I wasn’t sure what “set custard” really looked like. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Certainly for a first time from scratch attempt it was great! That said, it wasn’t super creamy/custardy. I’m afraid it didn’t get coated evenly enough and the bread size may have affected things. Regardless I really liked it. I can’t say it tasted pumpkiny at all, though the pumpkin spices were very noticeable and yummy! I tasted like a nicely spices regular bread pudding. Next time I might add more pumpkin, if it doesn’t affect the consistency then it might improve the pumpkin taste.
Thanks again so very much! Now I’m off to find more reasonable fall recipe ideas! (Those that don’t require a stand mixer, grrr!)
I like pumpkin pie. I’ll eat it on the holidays. I have made it from scratch. I got nothing wrong with it. Really, I don’t. But I have a “thing” for bread pudding. So does my father-in-law. Thanks goodness, because when you go out to dinner and the group splits dessert you need someone to back you up when you declare the bread pudding looks good. Needless to say, I would happily substitute the pie for this dessert. I missed fall last year but have had this on the brain for over a year….. Pumpkin pie is “too” pumpkinny for me and since I am obsessed with anything that remotely tastes custard like, this is it for me. Pumpkin pie, who?
i made this last night and it was wonderful – not even a speck left over!
do you have any thoughts on making this with a whole grain baguette and maple syrup instead of refined sugar? we’re kind of health food freaks…
Mine’s in the oven right now! It wasn’t done after 30 minutes, so I’ve got my fingers crossed for 40 minutes. I substituted nutmeg for allspice because I didn’t have any, and I used brown sugar because I would eat brown sugar plain for every meal if it wouldn’t kill me. Ohhhh I hope the top doesn’t burn before the middle is done!!! Send me good cooking vibes!!!
Thanks for this recipe, Deb. It was a hit at our family dinner yesterday — no one even wanted the pie after tasting this. I added fresh whipped cream on top, which made it even more rich and decadent. Your recipes never disappoint!
I made this with a very dense spiced pound cake a friend gave me. Predominant spice in the cake was clove. I didn’t use allspice because, well, I’d run out and didn’t realize it. *gentle cough* I added a pinch more cinnamon and ground ginger, and substituted a big teaspoon of vanilla for one of the spoonsful of bourbon (I used Jack Daniels).
This was almost unbelievably good–just phenomenal. I served it warm with a dollop of whipped cream, and I could tell from the bulging eyes of the other diners and their clean plates that they agreed with me.
I’m convinced that this is what the angels eat in Heaven. Thanks, Deb!
it’s a little late but wanted to tell you how much my family LOVED this recipe over Thanksgiving and Christmas! It is definitely a new family favorite and quite possibly, a new holiday tradition. The bourbon gave it just the right amount of punch and the butter soaked into the bread was divine. I added golden raisins (thinking of soaking them in the bourbon next time) and they just sent this recipe over the edge.
Thanks for sharing your passion for cooking with the masses…you inspire me and are my favorite go-to gal when a new dish is required. :-)
I wanna try the pumpkin recipes but I have oodles of pumpkins in the garden and I wanna use them instead of canned puree (at least this time). How do I get from pumpkins to a puree that I can use in the kitchen? Thanks.
You roast the squash until it is very soft, scrape out the pulp and run it through a food processor until smooth.
Just made this with leftover Rosh Hashana raisin challah (homemade). And added a bit of orange zest. Delicious! Best bread pudding I’ve ever made. Searching for any other bread pudding recipes you have, now. Thanks so much. Hope the baby is good.
This recipe was EXACTLY what I was looking for! I have a baguette, a can of pumpkin and a need to do some fall baking! Thanks! Its in the oven now. I added walnuts (and the bourbon) I’m so excited to try it!
Thanks Deb! I made this for friends this weekend, substituting nutmeg for allspice, challah for stale bread and topping with brown sugar whipped cream (recipe below, from epicurious). You made the right move doubling the spices – I may even increase a bit more next time. It smelled fabulous baking during dinner, and put as all in the mood for the season. Thanks again for being a trusted resource!
Brown sugar cream:
* 1 cup chilled whipping cream
* 1/3 cup chilled sour cream
* 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* Additional ground cinnamon
I made this last night, it was delicious! I added a caramel sauce as well, just sugar and a little water boiled until it turns color and then a little whole milk whisked in. Lovely :)
I made this tonight with some pumpkin puree that I slaved over all day (what in the hell was I thinking..I swore I’d never do it again, but the cuisineart, which I didn’t have last time, made it less painful) where was I..oh! pudding, right. Anyway, it was fabulous. This is the first dessert that I’ve put burbon in that I’ve throught was THE perfect pairing . I also added about 3T of maple syrup as well. It’s so good and so easy and everyone loved it. I know I”ll be making this more often. Thanks, Deb.
OMG..my spelling is so bad in the above post ..it must have been the bourbon!
Wow, this sounds marvellous. Will definitely have to try it, we love bread pudding…and pumpkin…
Okay, so I am so not a bread pudding person, but the husband loves it. He found the recipe, and bought the baking pumpkins.
Well, we just finished our first serving, and everybody (including me) loved it!
Thank You! — I’m keeping this recipe. (BTW — we doubled it, and baked in our Dutch Oven, and it turned out glorious!)
I can’t quite tell from the picture of the can, but are you using plain pumpkin or pie filling pumpkin? The addition of your own spices points to plain pumpkin puree, but I’d like to make sure. Also, having never used canned pumpkin is there any one stand out type/brand you would recommend, or any that you would purposely not use.
The recipe calls for plain pumpkin puree, not for the stuff already spiced and sweetened. If I remember correctly, the first time I made this, I used the “pie filling” by accident and deeply regretted it. I’ve never tested out brands, just grab whatever is available.
I would make a creame anglaise sauce with this. It is decadent !
I just made and served this to extended family and it was wonderful. I did not have regular sugar or bourbon so I subbed brown sugar and a teaspoon or so of vanilla I served it with brown sugar vanilla bean speckled whipped cream and it was like a warm autumn hug in a bowl. Yum…thanks for the idea.
Just made this for the second time and bringin home to the fam for Thanksgiving! Love it! Substituted agave for sugar for my diabetic dad. Did a taste test and it’s great! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Deb,
I want to make this for Thanksgiving tomorrow. What do you think about adding crystallized ginger into the bread pudding? Any thoughts would be helpful!
Thanks!
I made this last year for Thanksgiving. It was so good I made it for our office holiday potluck. INSTANT hit. It DISAPPEARED (I’d made a double recipe too.) I don’t even like bread pudding (texture gags me) but this is AMAZING. Sorry I didn’t give kudos where they are so due last year…but just wanted to say “THANK YOU!” =-) for posting this. This year, I couldn’t find the link for this recipe and was panicking…then I remembered “smitten kitchen” (which I thought at first said “Smitten Kitten,” thought that was the cutest name EVER) and WHEW! Here I am. Needless to say it’s on the dessert list for this year’s Turkey Day as well!
I made this for my sister for thanksgiving and it turned out great! Made a really delicious treat for breakfast the next morning! I know I will make this one again. Thanks :)
I made this for thanksgiving, substituting buttermilk for 1 cup of the milk in the recipe (I had buttermilk on hand for sweet potato buttermilk pie, which was delicious. I covet that recipe). The bread pudding came out just ok — not very spiced, not very desserty, sort of meh, which made me sad ’cause I had high hopes.
Then today I still had leftover bread, cream, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree, so I thought, whaddaheck, I’ll make another load. I am SO GLAD! This time it turned out rapturously good. I increased the sugar (brown) to 2/3 cup to make up for last time (could it be that using buttermilk made it more tart?), and went a little heavier on the ginger/cinnamon/nutmeg (instead of allspice).
I had bread pudding for dinner tonight. I went back for seconds. I will have it for breakfast tomorrow. Look at what you’ve done!
This looks soooo good! I can’t wait to try it!
This recipe was recommended to me, and so I had to try it to use some of the pumpkins I grew in my garden this year. The result: delicious! I would recommend that anyone wary of cooking try this recipe as it is very easy. If it looks watery after cooking 30 minutes, let it sit on the counter for a bit ~ it will thicken.
Nice recipe! I added a T of molasses. Have you tried doing this in a pumpkin shell? It makes the pumpkin quite yummy to eat! cook the pumpkin first, then use it as the container, and when finished, slice in weges (there is a good recipe in the Victory Garden Cookbook)