Bread Pudding the Dutch way

Latelatelate!! Look at the time! I wonder if I'll still be able to post on Monday. I made it!
So, desserts. Maybe you've seen the picture in the Index. Now, you're about to be amazed by the real thing.


I'm kidding really. This is a very simple bread pudding, which is apparently some worldwide 'national' dessert. The Dutch are known for bread pudding, but so are the English, the Italian, Spanish, French, Americans (somewhere) and and... I could go on. I imagine they're all slightly different. Or maybe they're very different and just all use bread. I know of only one and that is an 'Italian Bread Pudding' that has been made and adjusted so many times in this house that it's become Dutch.

Bread Pudding (the Dutch way)
Serves one ovendish - adapted from 'Kookgids - Italiaans'

2 apples
Sugar (about 75 grams)
bread (about half a baguette)
300 ml cream *
2 eggs
lemon or orange zest (optional)
 fruit or jam (optional)

1. Cut the apples into thin slices. If you wish, peel them as well. Lay these on the bottom of an oven tray or dish. You want something the size of a normal browniepan, but deeper.
2. Sprinkle sugar on top until all the apple slices have a bit of sugar on top (or a bit more if youre a sweettooth).
3. Slice the bread and line those on top of the apple.
4. Beat the eggs into the cream and add the lemon or orange zest. Pour a bit of the cream onto the bread until they are all wet and soaky.
5. If you wish, apply the layer of fruit or jam now. Then top with the remaining cream.
6. Pop the dish in a preheated oven of 180 degrees Celsius or 360 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.
7. Serve warm or cold, plain or with a bit of cream on top.


* What you really need is 300 ml of 'stuff that looks creamy'. I have substituted the cream with different cream cheeses combined with milk. I believe one time I even used plain milk. Milk thickened with a bit of yogurt works fine as well. It's even a healthier option!

Like most of the recipes that I've made so many times that they're 'mine', it's more a guideline than an actual recipe. I'm sorry, I am really not a precise person. I add sugar until I like it. I add the fruits and jams in quantities I feel are appropriate and I leave out any flavouring to the cream according to my liking at that moment. It might be a bit vague, but you'll do just fine. The key is knowing what you like and tasting bits in between. Look at the pictures (my first step-by-step pictures!) and copy. You don't need more.


I caught myself fussing about whether my bread pudding looked good enough to post. Then I realised it is Bread Pudding and laughed at myself. Although I'm sure there are amazing and beautiful ways to make and present a bread pudding, in the end this was made by grandma's who wanted to serve a quick dessert or mothers who didn't know what to do with leftover bread. Maybe it comes from the days when throwing away bread was a waste and a sin. No matter how odd it looks once you're done, it will be real and honest food. That's what I think.

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