The Long Step You Can't Skip For Good Bread Pudding

Biting into a big spoonful of hot freshly-baked pudding can be a transportive experience. Whether it brings you back to your grandma's kitchen, or to a favorite family memory, this simple dessert has been a kitchen classic for decades.

One of the many appeals of bread pudding is its thrifty simplicity. The most basic bread pudding is made with ingredients you likely already have on hand — the key components are shredded stale bread, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, a splash of bourbon, and some cinnamon.

And though making bread pudding can be quick and easy, there is a key hack to ensure that your final sweet is as moist and custardy as possible — soak the bread overnight. Combine the sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt and pour them into your baking dish over the bread, cover them, and place them in the fridge for around eight hours, or overnight. This way when it comes time to bake the dish, your bread is guaranteed to have fully soaked in all the creamy milk sauce. It may take a bit longer, but this step is absolutely crucial for a truly mouthwatering bread pudding. 

One of the joys of bread pudding is that it can be endlessly customized depending on your taste palate, what you have on hand in your pantry, or the season. The most common addition to bread pudding is raisins. However, other dried fruit can easily be substituted in for a twist — dried cranberries or dried orange slices give your pudding an elevated flair. You can also substitute in semisweet chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut for a rich chocolate bread pudding. You can even make a sweet potato bread pudding by adding a rich sweet potato puree to your custard base, and topping your finished product with crunchy cashews.

If you are willing to change the bread base of your bread pudding you can use challah bread for a softer, more fluffy, dessert. You can also use large all-butter croissants, slather them with apple butter and some fresh apple slices for a delightful apple croissant bread pudding. But whatever the substitution or remix, the all-night soak in the custard mixture is an absolute must!