1/2 1 pound loaf unsliced
-challah; brioche or other
-egg bread
2 tb Butter or margarine
1 cn Evaporated milk; (12 ounce)
1 1/2 c Half-and-half
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Cooked pumpkin puree or
-canned pumpkin
3 lg Eggs
1 ts Ground ginger
1 ts Ground cinnamon
2 ts Vanilla extract
1/4 ts Salt
1/2 c Sliced pitted dates
Boiling water
1. Cut bread into 1-inch-thick slices. Toast bread slices. In 2-quart
saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat. Brush one side of
each bread slice with butter. Cut buttered bread into 1-inch cubes and
place in greased 1 1/2-quart casserole or baking dish.
2. In same saucepan, with wire whisk, combine undiluted milk,
half-and-half, sugar, and pumpkin until smooth. Heat over low heat until
bubbles appear around side of pan. Remove from heat.
3. In medium-size bowl, lightly whisk eggs with ginger, cinnamon, vanilla,
and salt until well mixed; beat in about a cup of pumpkin mixture. Pour egg
mixture into remaining pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour pumpkin-egg
mixture over bread and let stand until bread absorbs most of the liquid
about 15 minutes.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Fold dates into bread pudding until well
mixed. Place casserole in 13- by 9-inch baking pan. Pour 1 inch of boiling
water into pan. 5. Bake bread pudding 1 1/4 hours or until firm around edge
of casserole but soft set in center. Cool pudding on wire rack at least 30
minutes before serving. Serve pudding warm or cool to room temperature.
Store pudding in the refrigerator.
Note: To bake this recipe in a pumpkin, cut top off a 5- to 6-pound pumpkin
and remove seeds and fibers. Cut decorative edge on top of pumpkin, if
desired. Place pumpkin in 9-inch-square baking pan. Bake pumpkin 30
minutes. Meanwhile, prepare bread pudding mixture and pour into partially
baked pumpkin. Bake 1 1/2 hours longer or until knife inserted near center
comes out clean.
Makes 12 Servings. Magazine: Country Living, September, 1993.
Yields
12 servings