Gingered Pear Bread Pudding topped with Crisp Cinnamon Sugar

Given my perfectionist attitude towards baking and pastry, it's not every day that I'll make an item that pleases me. Sometimes, baking became so frustrating that I had sleepless nights trying to comprehend the reasons behind collapsed cakes, stone-hard macarons, gooey brownies and flat cookies.


My handsome Charlie Brown makes me happy :)

YH knows intimately if my baking day turned out well or bad, just from the tone of my voice :) He always had to cheer me up when the macarons turned out in a mess.

One glorious day came in mid December 2006 as I was trying to master macarons, to be in time for my sister's return from UK (she's my macaron kaki and critic). After days of unsuccessful batches and trying to explain "feet" to YH, my macarons finally had "feet"! When they appeared during the baking process, I was simply jumping up and down in the kitchen, screaming with joy and calling YH in that very instant!


Macaron's feet refers to the jagged bottom of each macaron shell. It's vital!!! and completes the entire beauty.

Geesh, you really need to be a crazy baker like me to understand that exhilarating moment, which beats having the latest handbag :)

So last week during Pastry Techniques - Desserts Station, I was extremely pleased with 2 items! One is this bread pudding and the other is my Genoise (next post). My macarons still give me the highest satisfaction but this bread pudding is really delicious too!

So, here's my recipe adapted from a 1999 copy of Cook's Illustrated. It's simple to make (without the need for mixing machines) and ingredients can be substituted easily. So, Enjoy!


Decadent Brioche Pudding, laced with Bourbon Pears and Candied Ginger. Layered with Vanilla-infused Custard and lightly topped with crisp Cinnamon Sugar. Served warm with Coconut Creme Anglais, it is pure pleasure for late nights.

Served in a 4 quart souffle dish

Ingredients

Eggs - 4 each
Egg Yolk - 1 each
Sugar - 5 oz
Milk - 20 oz
Heavy Cream - 20 oz
Bourbon - 3 Tbsp
Vanilla - 1 Tbsp
Ground Nutmeg - 1 Tsp
Salt - 1/4 Tsp
Brioche (2 days old, diced) - 18 oz
Unsalted butter, melted - 1 oz
Diced Dried Pears (re-hydrated in Bourbon) - 8 oz
Fresh Ginger, grated - 2 pieces
Candied Ginger - 1/2 cup
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 Tbsp
Sugar - 4 Tbsp



1. To make cinnamon sugar, combine 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon and 4 Tbsp sugar together. Set aside.
2. Re-hydrate diced dried pears in 3 Tbsp of Bourbon and top with warm water. Leave uncovered for 1 hour. Strain and set aside.
3. Infuse the milk with fresh ginger slices by gently simmering the ginger in milk (low heat). Let it sit for 30 minutes. Remove ginger slices and cool the milk.
4. Whisk egg yolk, eggs and sugar in a large bowl to combine.
5. Whisk in milk, cream, bourbon, vanilla, ground nutmeg and salt.
6. Stir in 15 oz of diced, stale Brioche into the mixture.
7. Mix thoroughly to moisten and let the entire bread and cream mixture stand for 20 minutes.
8. Scoop the soaked brioche pieces and start layering them in the buttered souffle dish or casserole.
9. Layer the dish with brioche, the pears and candied ginger.Repeat layers.
10. Pour the remaining liquid (from the mixture) into a buttered souffle dish or casserole.
11. Scatter the remaining 3 oz of brioche on top. Push the bread down gently to partially submerge the brioche pieces.
12. Brush the exposed bread with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
13. Bake in a convection oven at 325 F (163 C) for 40 - 50 minutes.
14. The pudding should be set, of deep golden brown and jiggles very slightly in the centre. (Pudding should be removed before it starts rising in the oven).
15. Let the pudding cool for 30 minutes to set. Dust lightly with powdered sugar and Serve with ice cream.


Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Tips:
Brioche is an enriched French bread that is high in butter and milk content. You can get plain or flavoured brioches from Cedele or Simply Bread, and let them go stale for 2 days. Stale bread absorbs more moisture and leads to a firmer bread pudding; puddings made from fresh bread are soggy.

If you can't find brioche, you can use other butter loaves or breads that are high in fat and milk. Crystal Jade and Sun Moulin sells butter breads too. Similarly, let them go stale for 2 days. You can also use stale plain croissants in replacement of bread. If low fat white bread or baguettes is your choice, then don't even try this recipe! It will fail!!!!

The dried pears can be easily substituted with your favourite dried fruit like apple, apricot, cherries etc. You can even replace it with 58% cocoa content baking chocolate. Candied ginger is found in specialty food stores like Culina, and you can omit it if you like.


Chocolate Cherry Croissant Pudding

Basically, the versatility of this recipe allows you to recreate new bread puddings using the above ratios. Let me know your new creations!