BAKE: Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Apples
- Rum Raisin Bread Pudding Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Make Rum Raisin Bread Pudding
- Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Apples
This rum raisin bread pudding is classic comfort food, studded with rum-soaked raisins, chunks of fresh apple, and a creamy egg custard. I like it best served warm, with either a caramel or custard sauce, whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or even rum raisin ice cream to take it over the top!
Between college and culinary school, I worked in a little French bakery that made fresh baguettes every day. We often had leftover bread at the end of the day, and we could take home as much unsold bread as we cared to if we worked a closing shift. I can’t stand seeing food go to waste, so I’d bike home with whatever I could manage, to share with my roommates (and anyone I passed on the way home who looked like they might want some).
My friends and I ate a LOT of French bread those years… and french toast, egg strata, bread crumbs, stuffing, panzanella salads, croutons, and of course, bread pudding like this one! It’s a frugal way to make a wholesome dessert or sweet breakfast treat out of dry or stale bread.
White French bread makes fantastic bread pudding, but you can use a lot of other breads, or even the heels from sliced loaf bread. You can even use whole wheat sandwich bread, which is what I used for this batch. For the most decadent bread pudding, you can use a bread made from enriched dough like brioche or challah.
Rum Raisin Bread Pudding Ingredients
Bread cubes:
Fresh or dried bread cubes of sandwich bread, brioche, challah, French bread, or a mix.
Eggs:
Fresh whole eggs add richness and structure to the custard, as well as being nutritious.
Dairy:
Melted butter adds rich flavor and keeps the bread pudding tender and moist after it is baked. For the liquid in the custard mixture, I use a blend of two parts whole milk to one part half and half. You can vary these proportions, or use all milk or even all cream to make a lower fat or a richer, more decadent bread pudding.
Raisins:
You can use golden or regular raisins for this bread pudding, or a mixture of the two. The key to tender, flavorful raisins is pre-soaking them before adding them to the bread pudding. We’ll use a mixture of boiling water and rum. This will plump the raisins and infuse them with rum flavor.
Apple:
Use a firm, tart baking apple for best flavor, though you can also use sweeter eating apples. Quarter, core, and dice the apple before mixing it into the bread pudding. I like to leave the peels on for extra texture and nutrition, though you can also peel the apple first if you prefer.
Sugar:
I use a minimal amount of sugar in my bread pudding, preferring to add sweetness with a dessert sauce or topping if necessary. For a sweeter, more dessert-like bread pudding, you can increase this amount to a full cup.
Spices:
Cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg add complexity and a sweetly spiced aroma to your bread pudding. If you’d like, you can garnish the top of the bread pudding with additional cinnamon sugar or pearl sugar.
Kitchen Equipment Needed
9″ x 13″ baking dish:
This is a pretty forgiving recipe, so you can use any large casserole dish with enough volume to contain your ingredients, but most cooks have at least one 9 x 13 dish. I used a glass Pyrex dish, but you can also use metal (the baking time may slightly differ).
If you use a different sized baking dish, you may need to adjust the baking time (longer for a smaller, deeper dish, less time for a larger dish and a thinner bread pudding, or for two smaller dishes). Check the center of your pudding with a skewer and make sure that it’s cooked through, or ideally with a food thermometer to make sure it’s at least 165 F in the center.
mixing bowls:
Any bowl or container large enough to hold and mix your bread cubes with the custard mixture will work. You’ll need a medium mixing bowl to whisk the eggs and dairy together to make the custard.
How to Make Rum Raisin Bread Pudding
step one:
- In a small heat-resistant bowl or saucepan, pour the boiling water over the raisins, stir, then add the rum.
- Cover and let the raisins soak and plump for 5-10 minutes.
- Butter the 9″ x 13″ baking dish & set aside.
step two:
- Dice the bread into large 1″-1 1/2″ cubes, and put them in the large mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan, or a glass dish in the microwave.
step three:
- Crack the eggs individually into a small bowl or measuring cup before adding them to the medium bowl so that you can easily remove any bits of shell.
- Whisk the eggs together until they’re a uniform, light lemony color.
step four:
- Whisk in the milk, cream, salt, and spices.
- Stir in the sugar and mix until it is well dissolved.
- Drizzle in the melted butter while whisking the mixture. The butter will congeal but evenly distribute it as well as you can.
step five:
- Mix the diced apple and soaked raisins (plus any remaining liquid) with the bread cubes in the large bowl and fold together.
- Pour the whisked custard mixture over the top of the bread cubes and fruit.
- Fold and stir gently to mix until all bread cubes are coated with custard mixture.
- Let the mixture soak for a few minutes, stirring occasionally so that the bread cubes evenly soak up the custard.
step six:
- Gently tip the bread and custard mixture into the buttered baking dish. Spread the mixture out into an even layer.
- At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the bread pudding for a few hours or overnight.
step seven:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- If you like, you can sprinkle a teaspoon or two of cinnamon sugar or pearl sugar on top of the unbaked pudding.
- Cover the baking dish with foil, and bake for 40 minutes, or until the custard is set in the center.
- Uncover the pan and let the top brown and crisp for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.
step eight:
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
- Refrigerate any leftover rum raisin bread pudding for up to a week.
Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Apples
Equipment
Ingredients
- 7 cups bread cubes, loosely packed (5-6 cups lightly packed) see post for bread recommendations
- 1 large baking apple, cored and diced (you can peel it if you prefer but I don't)
Rum Raisins
- ⅔ cup raisins (light, dark, or a mixture)
- ⅓ cup boiling water
- ⅓ cup rum (dark, spiced, or light rum)
Custard Mixture
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half and half or cream (sub whole milk for lighter pudding)
- 4 tbsp melted butter (2 oz. I use salted, if you use unsalted increase salt to 1 tsp)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
Instructions
Ingredient prep:
- In a small heat-resistant bowl or saucepan, pour the boiling water over the raisins, stir, then add the rum.
- Cover and let the raisins soak and plump for 5-10 minutes.
- Butter the 9″ x 13″ baking dish & set aside.
- Dice the bread into large 1″-1 1/2″ cubes, and put them in the large mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan, or a glass dish in the microwave.
Make custard:
- Crack the eggs individually into a small bowl or measuring cup before adding them to the medium bowl so that you can easily remove any bits of shell.
- Whisk the eggs together until they’re a uniform, light lemony color.
- Whisk in the milk, cream, salt, and spices.
- Stir in the sugar and mix until it is well dissolved.
- Drizzle in the melted butter while whisking the mixture. The butter will congeal but evenly distribute it as well as you can.
Mix pudding:
- Mix the diced apple and soaked raisins (plus any remaining liquid) with the bread cubes in the large bowl and fold together.
- Pour the whisked custard mixture over the top of the bread cubes and fruit.
- Fold and stir gently to mix until all bread cubes are coated with custard mixture.
- Let the mixture soak for a few minutes, stirring occasionally so that the bread cubes evenly soak up the custard.
- Gently tip the bread and custard mixture into the buttered baking dish. Spread the mixture out into an even layer.
- At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the bread pudding for a few hours or overnight.
Bake pudding:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- If you like, you can sprinkle a teaspoon or two of cinnamon sugar or pearl sugar on top of the unbaked pudding.
- Cover the baking dish with foil, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the custard is set in the center. If you refrigerated the unbaked pudding, you'll need to increase the baking time slightly.
- Uncover the pan and let the top brown and crisp for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
- Refrigerate any leftovers for up to a week.