Can I still share pumpkin recipes?
I know Thanksgiving is over and we have now entered the season of candy canes and eggnog but I would be remiss if I didn’t share this bread pudding with you all. I have a hard time turning down bread pudding, dont you. It is like a dessert that gives you a hug, warm and delightful! When the hubs and I went to New Orleans last month I made sure we had bread pudding since they know how to do it right. The bread pudding in NOLA did not disappoint and it was topped with a boozy cream sauce that makes it so distinctly New Orleans.
A few years ago I stumbled upon this pumpkin bread pudding and fell in love. It became my go to dessert for fall. The secret ingredient is crystalized ginger and trust me, you don’t want to leave that out! Pumpkin, ginger, raisin and challah make this a decadent and delicious dessert. I strongly believe that you have to make bread pudding with challah because of the buttery nature of the bread and how perfectly it absorbs the custard. If you want to use another type of bread please feel free but challah is my preferred choice.
Since I was making this for Thanksgiving I had to make sure it would be sufficient enough to replace the usual Pumpkin Pie which is the brother’s favorite. Thankfully he found this to be a decent substitution so if you have Pumpkin Pie fans I think they will enjoy this one too! Aside from this success, Thanksgiving was a great day of eating and family bonding. We started the eating and drinking early and continued until the evening when our stomachs were full to excess and we all wanted to curl up with a blanket and watch football. I’ll give you a quick glimpse of the festivities…
The meal was great, the company was even better. I am starting to feel however, that the holidays are going too quickly. I know I sound like a huge hypocrite, remember when I couldn’t wait for Christmas to get here? The truth is I am a very fickle person and one minute I want something to happen sooner and then the next, I get sad it happened too quickly. I guess in reality I like to savor everything about the holidays. Maybe I am having these feelings but I need more time to get prepared for all the Hanukkah and Christmas festivities. I might need to start doing some gift shopping, Eeek! I guess I am going to eat some of this pumpkin bread pudding and pretend it’s not happening.
Let’s take a brief moment to talk about traditions. I am always trying to come up with new holiday traditions (realizing of course that doing something once does not a tradition make). I am always curious what traditions other people have. I want to hear all about your family traditions for the holidays so please share them below. If you have a tradition that involves watching specific holiday films I want to know since I am a sucker for holiday films. In the next post I’ll share some of our family traditions.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
- 1/4 Tsp. Allspice
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
- 1 Loaf Raisin Challah (Brioche or Plain Challah work too) - Using a day old bread is best.
- 1/4 Cup Crystalized Ginger Diced
Instructions
- Dice up your bread in to small cubes and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients minus the bread and ginger. Whisk to combine all ingredients. Once the custard is mixed add your ginger and stir to incorporate. Prepare a 7x11in baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray. Place your bread cubes in the pan and pour the pumpkin custard on top. Lightly shake pan to ensure the custard has spread to each end. Let the pan sit for 15 minutes to allow the custard to absorb in to the bread. Bake the bread pudding for 40 minutes or until the top starts to brown.
- You can serve with ice cream or whip cream, for extra decadence you can serve with warm caramel sauce or even my boozy caramel sauce.
