Bread Pudding / Budinca din paine

Directions

1. Preheat oven to medium. Grease a large baking dish (or cake pan).

2. Cube bread. Pack the cubes into a measuring cup and measure out 3 cups. Put bread cubes into baking dish. Make sure your dish is large enough that you have at least an inch above the bread cubes (2 inches is better).  

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, vanilla, honey, salt and cinnamon. Beat again until well blended. (Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl well while mixing, so the honey doesn’t stay in a blob at the bottom of the bowl.)

4. Pour the liquid over the bread cubes.

5. Bake pudding 60-80 min. (This is for a deep pudding. If you are using a very large pan, and the pudding is thin, maybe only 30 min.) If pudding starts to burn on the bottom, turn oven down. When the pudding is done it will be firm (not dry), and a knife will come out fairly clean.

               

Notes: This simple recipe is a great way to turn old bread (which there’s plenty of in Romania) into a yummy dessert or breakfast dish. Minus the baking time, it’s really only about 15 min worth of work! You can use any type of bread in this recipe – whole grain is our favorite. You can serve it warm or cold. Top with yogurt, cream, honey, ice cream, or eat it plain.

 

Variations: There are a thousand ways to dress up this recipe. You can add between ½ and 1 c of any type of chopped fruit or dried fruit. A mashed banana and ½ tsp of nutmeg is nice. Chopped apples and a few raisins are also good. You can also omit the sweetener, and make savory Bread Pudding. Add ½ c cheese and â…” c chopped, pre-cooked veggies. Spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, and zucchini are all tasty. If you opt for a savory bread pudding, make sure veggies are not too moist – if they are, use less milk.

 

Substitutions: Honey/Sugar.