//There must be 50 ways to... make bread pudding

Unfortunately, I only came up with 3 ways before I called it quits for the evening and went to bed. Lay-zee, I am.

Classic Bread Pudding Base (makes enough to fill 4 ramekins)

* 3 eggs
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 4 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
* 1 cup cream
* 1/2 cup evaporated milk
* 5 cups bread, pulled or cut into bite-sized pieces (I used King's Hawaiian rolls leftover from when I made sliders.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly butter 4 ramekins. Place them in a larger baking dish that has enough room to fill with water.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 4-5 minutes) (when beater is raised the batter will fall back into bowl in a slow ribbon). Beat in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Then beat in the melted and cooled butter, cream and evaporated milk.

Place the bread cubes in the ramekins. Carefully pour (or ladle) the prepared custard over the bread cubes until completely covered.

Prepare a water bath. Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up sides of the ramekins. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the bread pudding from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.

Green Tea Bread Pudding

* 3 teaspoons green tea powder
* 3 tablespoons of orange marmalade
* 1/2 pint of fresh blueberries

Add the green tea and orange marmalade to the egg custard before layering it over the bread cubes. Top with blueberries 30 minutes into the baking process.





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In Britain they're called "Jaffa Cakes." In the States they're manufactured by Lu Biscuits and called "Pims." They're essentially sponge cake wafers layered with orange jelly and dipped in dark chocolate. Whatever they're called, I love them. (Because I'm an anglophile, I'll refer to them by their British name. ;) )

Jaffa Cake Bread Pudding

* 4 tablespoons finely minced crystallized ginger
* 12 tablespoons orange marmalade
* 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Add the crystallized ginger to the mix before you bake the pudding. After it's cooled, use an offset spatula to cover the tops of the individual puddings with a layer of orange marmalade. Drizzle the melted dark or semi-sweet chocolate into the middle and use the same spatula to spread it to the edge. Let the Jaffa Cake bread pudding air-dry until the chocolate hardens. I found that removing the puddings from the ramekins first produces the best results.





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Apple-Plum-Walnut Bread Pudding

* 1-2 medium-sized apples
* 1-2 black plums
* 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
* 3 tablespoons honey

Slice, dice, or use a small cookie cutter to cut out apple and plum pieces. Layer the fruit at the bottom of the ramekins. In a separate bowl combine the crushed walnuts and honey. Using your hands, form small disks with the nut meal and then place them over the pieces of fruit. Proceed to add the bread pudding mixture on top and follow the aforementioned baking instructions.