Panettone Bread Pudding

Posted: May 17th, 2010 | Jessie | | Tags: bread pudding, Breakfast | No Comments »

Recently my local supermarket gave out free boxed loaves of panettone in honor of Mother’s Day.  I’ve never had panettone before, but I imagined that it was dry and tasteless considering how long those yellow boxes seem to sit around grocery stores.  I’m pretty sure the reason I received this loaf was because the panettone was left over from the holidays and its July expiration date was rapidly approaching.  I put it on a shelf and decided I’d make bread pudding with it on the next cool evening.

Guess what? Panettone is delicious.  When I was cutting it into cubes I had a nibble.  It was so good that I contemplated not making bread pudding at all and just eating the loaf as toast.  The bread was really sweet and moist and had these amazing pieces of crystallized lemon peel in it.  I should probably be suspicious of how long its shelf life is, but it was really good so I’m not going to question it.

I’m so glad I decided to go through with my original plan and make the bread pudding.  It was amazing.  I have a 9 x 13 pan of it sitting on my oven right now and fully intend to eat the whole thing myself.  This is an Everyday Italian recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis.  Even if you find her pronunciation of common pasta varieties off-putting, don’t let that stop you from trying this bread pudding.  It’s really, really good.

If you can’t find panettone (and it might be difficult right now because it’s a Christmas food) I’m sure this bread pudding would also be delicious made with a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.

Panettone Bread Pudding

from Everyday Italian

I’ve modified the original recipe a bit.  I originally made it as directed, but suspected that there might be too much custard.  I wanted the pudding moist, but not soggy.  After it had set for 30 minutes and the bread was still swimming in custard I poured off 1.5 cups of liquid.  Since I started with 6 cups of custard I’ve scaled back Giada’s recipe by 25%.  My ratio of milk to heavy cream is also slightly different.  I used more cream because I wanted to finish the container.  Since it tasted great that way I used that ratio for the recipe below.

She also calls for an Amaretto Sauce.  All of the reviews on the Food Network site rave about the sauce.  Since I was making this for myself I didn’t bother, but if you wanted to serve this as dessert at a dinner party (and it’s definitely delicious enough for that) you should probably give the sauce a try.

1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, bottom crust removed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
8 6 large eggs
1 1/2 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
2 1/2 1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 3/4 plus 2 tbsp. sugar

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let sit for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and serve.

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