Today I was cleaning out the shows on our DVR, and there happened to be two episodes of Good Eats on there. One of them was about bread pudding. I watched it, and it was obvious almost right away that this should be the first recipe for this blog. I have adapted the Alton version to ES (Elder Scrolls) where I could. He used refined sugar, dried cherries, and golden raisins. I went with honey (since there is mead in ES) and blackberries. Since the Pleyn Delit recipe has white wine as an option, instead of Alton's 2 ounces of rum, I used some mead. The spices are of course the problem part here, all of them being unverified, but bread pudding without these spices is going to suck, so I'm just rolling with it. I did leave out pepper, not totally on purpose though. ;)
We'll see how this works out. In true Alton fashion, the whole recipe takes like 9 hours from start to finish. As I type this, I'm at the "dry bread cubes in the oven for 2 hours" part.
The original recipe calls for 5 cups of dairy. This left me with WAY too much liquid. I dunno, maybe because it was a smaller bread boule, but I reduced it to 4 cups of dairy.
Blackberry Bread Pudding
An adaptation from Spiced Bread Pudding (from Alton Brown, my secret geek crush) and the Cherry Bread Pudding recipe in Pleyn Delit.
Ingredients
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon dried orange peel
* 15 whole cloves
* 1/2 ounce crystallized ginger, chopped (look, ES HAS to have ginger, it's just that good)
* 4 cups half-and-half, divided
* 3 large whole eggs
* 3 large egg yolks
* 1 cup honey
* 2 ounces mead
* 1 (10-inch) bread boule
* 1 package frozen blackberries
Directions
Place the cinnamon, nutmeg, dried orange peel, cloves, and ginger into 3 cups of half-and-half in a microwavable container and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Check the temperature of the mixture and microwave in 30 second increments until it reaches 180 degrees F. Cover and steep 15 minutes.
Place the eggs and yolks in a blender with an 8-cup carafe. Blend on the lowest speed for 30 seconds. Raise the speed to quarter power and slowly add the honey and blend until thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Add the remaining 2 cups half-and-half. With the machine still running, pour in the spiced half-and-half through a small hand strainer and add the mead. Store in the fridge till the dry bread cubes are ready.
Preheat the oven on the lowest (or warm) setting.
Cut a 7-inch round disk off the top of the boule using a long bread knife or serrated slicer. Tear the disk into pieces and scatter in a large roasting pan. Cut all the way around the inside of the boule just inside the outer wall. Cut downward and across the interior of the bread, first in one direction, then 90 degrees to it to create a grid, the way you would cube mango flesh to remove it from the skin. Remove the plugs of bread and tear into hunks about the size of an egg. Add to the roasting pan and bake until bread is dry, 1/2 to 2 hours.
Sprinkle the fruit over the bread, pour in the custard, and press the bread to submerge all the pieces. Cover and soak for 2 hours at room temperature or for up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Baste the inside of the bread shell with melted butter. Be sure to cover the bottom with a thin layer to prevent the custard from soaking through. Place the bread shell in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and place in the oven to toast the interior for 30 minutes.
Remove the bread shell from the oven and transfer the soaked bread mixture into the shell. Bake until the bread pudding souffles and reaches an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees F, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove and cool 30 minutes before slicing or scooping and serving.
The verdict: it was good, and one of the few recipes that came out looking almost exactly like the tv version. Not sure it was worth 9+ hours of work, though.
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