Cinnamon Sugar

  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Bread Pudding

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 ½ cups whole milk (don’t use low fat – it will separate)
  • 2 ½ cups heavy cream
  • 3 Tablespoons Orchard Spice Wine
  • 2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 12 ounces (about ½ a loaf) of good quality American-style white bread, sliced 3/8-inch thick and cut into 1 ½ -inch square pieces (about 8 cups)
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing pan
  1. For the cinnamon sugar: mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
  2. For the pudding: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
  3. Whisk eggs, yolk, and sugar in a large bowl to blend well. Whisk in milk, cream, wine, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in 6 cups prepared bread; mix thoroughly to moisten. Let stand 20 minutes.
  4. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Scatter remaining 2 cups bread pieces on top, pushing down gently to partially submerge. Brush exposed bread with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake until pudding is deep golden brown, is beginning to rise up sides of baking dish, and jiggles very slightly at the center when shaken, about 45-50 minutes. Let cool until set but still warm, about 45 minutes. Drizzle with Orchard Spice Glaze or Blueberry Sauce (or both!), see below.

Additions:

  • Wine-Plumped-Raisins: Follow recipe for Rich Bread Pudding, increasing wine to 1/3 cup. Soak ¾ cup of raisins in wine until moistened and plumped, 20-25 minutes. Stir plumped raisins, and any remaining wine into soaked bread mixture before transferring to baking dish. You could also add 1 cup of your favorite chopped nuts at this stage as well.
  • Orchard-Spice Glaze: Mix together ½ – 1 cup of powdered sugar & 2 TBS of Orchard Spice (add more or less powdered sugar to get the consistency you desire). Drizzle over pudding. Use a thicker glaze if drizzling over super-hot bread pudding; use thinner glaze for warm or cooled pudding.
  • Blueberry Compote / Sauce: This recipe is so good, we made a separate page for it. Click here for details.