salted caramel bread pudding {and real talk}

How are you? Honestly today was tough. I cried a lot. I needed pudding, but I was out of this bread pudding already so I ate some Ben and Jerry's instead. 

We have a lot going on right now in our little family and while most of it is good and exciting, sometimes I just feel the weight of it all and leak. 

There's something about pregnancy that makes me feel out of control too. Perhaps it's my growing belly and the new enjoyable discomforts that happen every day - but I think even more than that, it's because there are so many unknowns with a new child, that it forces me to have more faith, but I can't help but ride the wave of overwhelm too.

See, I like control. I like neat, I like tidy, I like expectations met. I like sleep. Basically everything life isn't with kids. LOL 

I very much tell myself “I have to do it all”. I'm learning that I don't. 

I can't.  

I'm not sure what my feelings or puffy eyes have to do with this bread pudding other than I was watching “Nadiya Bakes" the other night (first break I gave myself in weeks honestly lol) and she said “I find that when I'm sad, I bake, when I'm happy, I bake." 

I was like yes! PREACH! This is why baking means so much to me. I bake when I'm happy, sad, stressed, mad or need to think. 

 I bake to celebrate and I bake to mourn. I bake for fun and I bake for comfort. 

And I hope how ever you're feeling, you make time to bake this bread pudding this weekend. Seems like it will fit into your mood no matter how you swing it, you know? If you bake like me.

Wait real quick though - Please read my tips before you dive in and bake this (hint you NEED fresh beautiful brioche to make this or it will not be as good).

And trust me on the caramel sauce. It works, even though it sounds too easy. 

Anyway, love you friends. Thanks for baking with me. xo

salted caramel bread pudding

Bread pudding is an unsung dessert hero. It’s baked custard that fell in love with bread. It’s french toast dressed up. It’s so simple and so good, and we elevate here with salted caramel, fresh cream and berries. I feel like you could serve this for breakfast and you’d get sung praises. Or for tea time and suddenly you’re everyone’s best friend.  I cannot wait for you to bake this with me because it’s the perfect example of making something really extraordinary out of ordinary day-old bread. I mean, brioche bread, but still. Bread. Serve with tea or milk and, maybe a new enthusiasm for bread.

A few bakers notes: Get the freshest, most high-quality brioche bread you can find. I got mine from a local bakery. Oh, and make the caramel first.

for the salted caramel sauce (can be made up to one week ahead of time):

• 1 cup / 250ml  cream

• 1 cup / 175g dark brown sugar

• ¼ cup / 60g salted Kerrygold butter 

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt ((you may want a little less than this, start with ½ teaspoon but to me 1 teaspoon is perfect))

for the bread pudding:

• 10 cups / 500g day-old brioche bread, (toasted and torn into pieces (5-6 thick slices of brioche))

• 5 medium eggs, (preferably pasture raised )

• 2 ½  cups / 600g whole milk

• ½  cup / 100g sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste ((if you don’t have vanilla bean paste use 2 tablespoons vanilla extract) )

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ cup / 100g turbinado sugar

• 4 tablespoons (or so) of salted Kerrygold butter, (cold)

my favorite whipped cream:

• 1 ½ cups / 360ml fresh cream

• 1 generous tablespoon sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

fresh berries to serve

for the caramel:

1. Don’t be intimidated by making this caramel sauce. It’s as easy as measuring and simmering for a few minutes. It’s a soft, easy caramel sauce. 

2. Make the caramel sauce first. The sauce can be made up to a week ahead of time and stored in the fridge. 

3. Over a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt together all of your ingredients over a low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes, whisking every so often and scraping down the sides. The sauce will bubble and thicken. It will still be a thin-ish sauce when it’s done simmering, but the point is to get all the ingredients to marry and blend together for a bit. It will be much thicker once it simmers for a bit, but the sauce will significantly thicken once it cools. Taste your caramel once it cools to see if you need more salt.  

4. Bakers note: Using a heavy bottomed saucepan is KEY here or else your caramel can bubble and burn and get too hot. What does heavy bottomed mean? It means your pan has a thick bottom - think really high quality pots and pans that quite literally feel heavy when you pick them up. 

5. Store in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge or, if using immediately, set aside to cool. 

for the pudding:

1. Make the caramel sauce first. See above. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C. Butter an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20cm) baking pan and set aside. This will be for our pudding later. 

3. Bakers note: Before you get started -  I’ve found success in weighing my brioche slices first, and then toasting them and then tearing them.

4. Line a baking sheet with the thick slices of your brioche bread and toast for 5-10 minutes. I love day-old brioche for this recipe, and find that the freshness of the bread (only being 1 day old) really makes a difference. We want the bread to dry out just a little bit. 

5. While the bread is toasting, measure out all of your other ingredients. 

6. Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt in a large bowl. This is our custard for the pudding. 

7. After your bread is done toasting and cooled slightly, tear your bread into large pieces (about 2 inches?) and then let the pieces soak for a few minutes in the custard mixture. If using only day-old bread, it only needs to soak for a minute or so. But if using 3+ old bread, you may want to let it soak for 5 minutes. 

8. The bread should almost completely absorb the custard mixture, so use your best judgement as to how long you need to soak your bread pieces. For me, it only takes about a minute using day old, freshly baked brioche. 

9. Take a generous cup or so of the salted caramel sauce and coat the bottom of the 8 x 8” baking pan. You want enough caramel sauce to coat the bottom of the pan, but you don’t want to use ALL of the caramel sauce. Reserve some of the caramel sauce for serving. 

10. Pour custard soaked bread on top of the caramel-bottomed pan. 

11. Take the salted butter and pinch off blobs, thoughtfully scattering it on top of the bread pudding pieces. Then sprinkle a generous amount of turbinado sugar across the top of the pudding. This sugary crunch long with the melted butter is everything you want in bread pudding, so don’t skimp. 

12. Bake at 350F / 180C uncovered for 1 hour or until slightly golden brown on top. 

13. Bakers tip: To see if it’s done, insert a knife into the pudding and pull aside some of the bread checking if the custard looks liquid or mostly absorbed. Keep in mind that the custard will continue to be soaked up by the bread after it’s taken out of the oven, but the custard should not appear to be liquidy anymore. 

14. You can make fresh whipped cream (see below) and cut berries while the pudding bakes. 

15. Let pudding rest for about 10 minutes before serving. 

16. Serve pudding warm with a scoop of caramel lovingly spread on the bottom of each plate. Serve with the pudding resting on top of the caramel, with a scoop of freshly whipped cream and fresh berries. 

17. Once baked, the bread pudding can be stored, tightly covered for up to 5 days in the fridge.  

my favorite whipped cream:

1. In an electric mixer, whip all ingredients together until soft peaks form. Serve immediately.