Invented as a way to make use of staled bread, bread pudding is a dish with roots dating far back into various cultures, most notably British. Unlike its savory counterparts like stuffing and thickening agents, bread pudding was created as a dessert. What was once a recycled dish has now become – and deliciously so – an inseparable favorite of upscale, after-dinner decadence.

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

3 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup raisins
7 (1/2-inch) slices brioche bread, cubed or torn*
4 eggs, beaten
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Directions:

In a large saucepan, add milk, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, rum and raisins and heat until warm. Simmer and stir until sugar dissolves.

Into a large bowl add the cubed bread and pour in the hot milk mixture. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread absorbs the milk.

Add the beaten eggs to the bread and milk mixture and stir. Pour bread pudding into a buttered 1 1/2-quart baking dish and bake for 50 minutes.

* I couldn’t find brioche bread at my local supermarket so I used pound cake instead. The end result was equally delicious, but required only a 40 minute cooking time.