#126_Sweet Perfection Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding....
amazingly to die for!

The original recipe is from Ina Garten
who is one of my favorite tv food network host.
In this recipe she used panettone bread.
I have her recipe for the panettone bread too but
I thought I'd just use some ensaymada since I was making some.
I also threw in a couple pieces of
cinnamon rolls that were a few days old.
The result?
amazing! luscious!
this is what happens when Ensaymada (recipe here)
meets Leche Flan (click here).....
you put them together in a dish and
it becomes a scrumptious dessert.
This pudding is exactly the way I like it...
the custard is not runny and
the bread is not soggy at all. In other word, perfect!!
and ...
if you want to make it more sinful than it already is,
serve it with vanilla ice cream on the side
or whipped cream on top.

This bread pudding so simple and so easy to make.
Better yet, if you are not up to baking the bread
just use some store-bought sweet bread
like Challah, Brioche, Italian Panettone,
or cinnamon-raisin loaf and you're ready to go.

Toasted bread cubes in a 9"x13"x2" baking pan

Place the baking pan with toasted bread cubes in a larger pan.

Leche Flan or Custard mixture.
(for Leche Flan, you can use any recipe your have)

Pour the custard mixture in to the toasted cubed bread.

Bake the pudding in bain marie

First slice for the cook!
Mmmmm you gotta try it!!

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

for Leche Flan I used this recipe, but you can certainly use whatever recipe you like.
3 large whole eggs
8 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup white sugar (or more if prefer sweeter)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup raisins, soaked in orange juice for at least 15 minutes

6 pieces good quality ensaymada or other sweet breads (about 1 lb.loaf)

Procedure:

The bread:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Cut the ensaymada (bread) in cubes and place in a baking pan.
3) Toast the cubed bread in pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.
4) Grease a 9" x 13" x 2" baking pan and place the toasted ensaymada cubes in it.
5) Set aside.

The custard:
1) In a large bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, the cream, milk, vanilla and sugar.
2) Pour this mixture over the toasted bread cubes.
3) Drain the raisins onto a piece of paper towel then spread them on top of pudding.

Bake pudding in Bain Marie: (definition of bain marie, click here)
Here's HOW:
1) Place the baking dish with the pudding into a larger pan and slide it in the oven.
2) Add a very hot tap water to the larger pan half way up the sides of the baking dish.
3)Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.
4) Bake the pudding in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
5) Uncover and bake for another 25 minutes or until the custard is set and the top of pudding is golden brown.
6) Allow the pudding to set for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
7) Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE:
To save time from washing another pan, after I toasted the cubed bread, I transferred the bread into a bowl and greased the pan with shortening and then I put back the toasted bread in.
Well, I guess it is not really a time-saver because I dirtied the bowl!

Enjoy anyway!!!

#58_LECHE FLAN or CUSTARD

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Josie, from Manteca who has been raving about it for months. So I finally gave it a try. I made a couple of additions to the caramel ingredients though and one of which is the maple syrup which gives the carmel a different flavor.

I experimented the recipe 2 ways to see which way is best.

1. BAIN MARIE

A bain marie or water bath consists of 2 pans, a larger pan to be filled with water and a smaller pan in which the custard is in. I used a 9"x7"x3" pyrex dish. The height of the pyrex dish is good enough so the water will not splash into the custard when baking.

I learned this trick from my mother to test if a leche flan has a GOOD STRUCTURE: when you pick up a piece of leche flan with a tooth pick and holds up its shape the custard has a good, strong structure. Needless to say if it falls apart even before you pick it up, something went wrong in the process.

Recipe for the CARAMEL:

1/3 cup sugar

1 tblsp. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. karo syrup

Recipe for the CUSTARD:

12 egg yolks

1 can evaporated milk

1 can condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup white sugar

PROCEDURE:

1) In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, maple syrup and karo syrup and cook over medium heat until the sugar is melted and mixture becomes thick enough to coat the dish.

2) Pour the syrup into the pan or dish and tilt it around to coat bottom and about 2-3 inches up the sides.

3) Set aside and make the custard mixture.

CUSTARD:

4) Mix together the evap milk and condensed milk

5) With a wire whisk, beat the egg yolks and stir them into the milk. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

6) Pour the mixture through a sieve into the prepared dish

7) Let the mixture sit in the fridge until bubbles are gone, about an hour.

8) Heat oven to 350 degrees.

9) Bake the custard in baine marie for 50 minutes to 1 hour or till tooth pick inserted comes out clean

10) Let cool. Best eaten after it has been refrigerated for few hours.

Note: This is a very good recipe indeed!!

2. STEAMING

Ahh, I will never use the steaming method again. It is a lot of work to steam leche flan as I had to bring out my 14 inch steamer then put some cloth under the lid so the steam won't drip on to the steaming flan, etc,etc.

I was disappointed with the result from steamimg, it is not as good as the one baked in Bain-Marie. Try both method and be the judge!!

#28_ Crema de Frutas (Fruit Cocktail Cream Cake)

Modified version of Crema de Frutas

The secret of good Crema de Fruta is in the filling and in the base cake. There are many different versions of this cake. Some recipes call for condensed milk in the filling, some call for custard, etc. I had made the original recipe from a book by Nora Daza, a famous cookbook author, a veteran gourmet chef, and at one time a host of a TV cooking show in the Philippines. The cake was really good but baking the sponge cake and making the custard filling from scratch was not a piece of cake for me. After making it once, I had to come up with an easier version.

This is my modified version of the cake and it is my favorite!!!!

I replaced the custard filling with the cream cheese and lemon pudding filling from the Hawaiian recipe (entry #6). I also used white cake mix instead of sponge cake, although using sponge cake for the base is no doubt a lot better. Store-bought sponge cake can also be substituted. Slice it up to fit your pan(s).

The subtle flavor of the lemon pudding, combined with the cream cheese and layers of the other ingredients make this cake taste sooooo heavenly that I call it the celestialized cake.

I have been making this cake in an 11x 15 cake pan, but lately I discovered that by using 3- 8x8 aluminum square pans, I can give away 2 of them and keep one for me. I think they look festive enough for Christmas give-aways too.

You can top the cake with any kind of whipped cream

Here's my recipe:

1) CAKE:

1 box white cake mix (I like to use French vanilla cake mix)

Bake the cake according to package directions. Let cool

*please see note below.

2) FILLING:

2 packages (3.5 oz each) instant lemon pudding mix

1 package cream cheese, softened

3-1/4 cups cold milk (updated)

In a bowl beat cream cheese and set aside. In another bowl, beat pudding and milk until thick; ( food processor works best for this part) Add the cream cheese and continue to beat and mix well. Consistency should be like mayonnaise. Spread over cooled cake.
(Note: you can also use 1 box instant lemon pudding mix and 1 box of white chocolate pudding mix...excellent combination)

3) FRUIT COCKTAIL

1 large can (29.5 oz) fruit cocktail, drained well

Spread over pudding

4) GELATIN

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups cold fruit juice (I used the juice of the fruit cocktail plus some orange juice)

Mix gelatin and sugar together and pour in the boiling water, stirring well until gelatin is dissolved. Add cold juice and stir. Set aside until slightly set then spread over fruit cocktail

5) APPLE JELLY (optional)

Slightly melt 1/2 cup apple jelly either in a sauce pan on top of stove or in the microwave.

Drizzle over the gelatin to glaze.

REFRIGERATE CAKE FOR AT LEAST 5 HOURS BEFORE SLICING.

*NOTE: Dec. '09

I have finally overcome my intimidation in making chiffon cakes since I posted this Crema de Fruta recipe. For the base of this cake I now use the Chiffon Cake recipe, click here. It sure makes a lot of difference.