When I came home from King Arthur Flour this week I brought 2 loaves of bread, several scones, a fruit tart, and savory tomato pie. I tried to eat fast and share the wealth, but that was an awful lot of bread…
Fortunately, stale bread doesn’t mean bad bread. It can easily be reinvented as a dessert of bread pudding when cubed and mixed with milk, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and raisins.
Many of my cookbooks note that bread pudding was especially popular during the Great Depression, and later, during the food rationing days of WWII. It was a way to use up stale bread in a “waste not want not” manner, while also providing a much-enjoyed sweet treat for children.
My recipe from the awesome 1970 “Officers’ Wives Cookbook” called for raisins, but I thought it was a great excuse to use a dried fruit mix I had on hand of golden raisins, cherries, cranberries, and blueberries.
Once it’s baked, top it with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Fall in love.
I also took a few more pieces of stale bread for toast, then topped them with fake bacon, eggs, cheese, and a scoop of pineapple salsa.
Oh, how I love Saturday breakfast…
I also love “the boys” that I am taking care of for my mom for a few weeks this month. They are proving to be willing models. Sleeping 2/3 of the days will do that I suppose.
This is “Best Boy” Fenian.
Bread Pudding
Adapted from The Officers’ Wives Cookbook, 1970
Recipe submitted by Mrs. Lawrence E. Pelton, Gp. Rep.
FBMS Trg. Cen. OWC
US Naval Sta., Charleston, South Carolina
5 slices of bread, cubed (6 slices if the loaf is small)
1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup raisins (or any dried fruit)
Cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine bread and milk. Then add remaining ingredients except for cinnamon. Gently toss with a rubber spatula to combine.
- Pour mixture into an 8×8 baking dish, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Bake for 4o minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or maple syrup.
