Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Crunch

What more delicious way to use up stale bread than to bake it into a bread pudding? This specific bread pudding was created with the remains of my weekend-old Cinnamon Crunch Skillet Bread, which already had the cinnamon crunch topping on it.

But if you don’t have any leftover cinnamon crunch bread lying around, don’t panic. You’re protected by me. Any stale bread may be used to make this bread pudding; all you need to do is top it with the cinnamon crunch mixture before baking. Start with cinnamon bread (or leftover cinnamon rolls), challah, brioche, or simply plain bread as long as it’s a little stale and not pre-sliced so you can chop your own bread bits.

I wondered whether to top this bread pudding with a sauce, if any. I ultimately chose crème anglaise. This sauce is similar to the delicious flavor of melting ice cream since creme anglaise is practically the same as the basis for manufacturing ice cream. I assumed it would go perfectly with the pudding’s cinnamon and brown sugar. It was, too.

However, if you don’t feel like making a sauce, just top the reheated pudding with a scoop of your favorite ice cream to get the same result.

You shouldn’t anticipate the crème anglaise to be as thick as, say, a bechamel sauce.

Creme anglaise should be pourable and has a consistency more akin to slightly reduced cream. Consider adding more bourbon, whiskey, or rum to the sauce to enhance the alcohol content a bit for the grownups.

A helpful hint is to chop up any stale bread into large chunks, place them in a freezer bag, and freeze them until you have enough for bread pudding. Just let the bag to defrost at room temperature before using as directed in the recipe.

Bread pudding with cinnamon crunch and crème anglaise
An excellent method to finish up stale bread! This bread pudding is served warm with a crème anglaise sauce and has a wonderful cinnamon sugar topping. Begin with any kind of bread you choose, whether it’s plain, cinnamon, leftover cinnamon rolls, challah, brioche, or a combination. Providing it’s a little stale. Simply add a dollop of your favorite vanilla ice cream to the heated puddings if you’d rather not create the sauce.

Ingredients

Creme anglophone

a half-cup of whipped cream
0.5 cups of milk
Granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons
3 big yolks of eggs
Vanilla bean paste or half a teaspoon
Optional: A splash of whiskey, bourbon, or rum
For the mash:

two mugs of whole milk
whipping cream, 3/4 cup
Four big eggs
Granulated sugar, 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

7 cups of old bread, roughly chopped into bits (I made use of some of my Cinnamon Crunch Skillet Bread leftovers. Alternately, you may use any plain bread, challah, or brioche as long as it’s a little stale, or you could use a cinnamon bread. Not pre-sliced is ideal so you can chop larger portions.)
Using leftover cinnamon crunch bread eliminates the requirement for the cinnamon crunch topping.
50 g of brown sugar
2/tsp. of cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

Cream, milk, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar should be added to a small pot set over medium heat. Heat until bubbles start to appear around the pan’s edge.
In the meantime, combine the egg yolks with the final tablespoon of sugar in a another bowl. When the cream mixture is prepared, whisk a little quantity into the egg mixture before adding more gradually until you have incorporated around 1/2 cup. Re-add the tempered egg mixture to the pan along with the remaining cream, and simmer over medium heat, constantly stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Nothing ought to boil. (Plunge a spoon into the mixture to test.

If you run your finger through it, it should leave a clean line, and it should coat the spoon.
Put sauce in a bowl after passing it through a fine-mesh strainer. Add vanilla and alcohol and mix (if using). Put plastic wrap directly on the sauce’s surface and put it in the fridge for at least an hour to get it cold. As it cools, sauce will slightly thicken. (You may prepare ahead. will last up to three days in the refrigerator when covered.)
With the rack in the middle, preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare numerous smaller pans or ramekins, or one 2-quart baking dish.

Until the mixture is smooth, whisk the milk, cream, eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, vanilla, and salt in a big bowl or large glass measuring cup.
In your baking dish or pans, distribute the bread bits evenly and in a mainly single layer. Don’t totally cover the bread with the custard mixture when you pour it over it. Pour just enough in so that the bread’s top is visible, approximately 3/4 of the way up. Allow it settle for 15 minutes, adding more custard mixture as needed to keep the bread from absorbing it more than 3/4 of the way.

If you aren’t using cinnamon crunch cereal, make the cinnamon crunch mixture by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon and adding melted butter. To blend, stir.

Spread the cinnamon-crunch mixture evenly over the bread pudding’s top (you may not need it all, depending on the size of your dishes). In a bigger roasting pan, place the full baking dish (or dish) and fill the pan with boiling water until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until custard is set and top is gently browned. Before serving, remove from water bath and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Pour prepared crème anglaise (cold or at room temperature) over the heated puddings before serving.

Nutrition
499kcal; 46g carbohydrate; 10g protein; 30g fat; 17g saturated fat; 320mg cholesterol; 353mg sodium; 259mg potassium; 43g sugar; 1345IU vitamin A; 0.2mg vitamin C; 205mg calcium; 1.1mg iron;