I recently had to go to a pot luck brunch. I’m always at a loss for things to bring. I need (a) quick (b) easy and (c) easily transportable in a give-away foil casserole pan. I decided to go with a bread pudding. This is a favorite of mine during the holidays. I traditionally make it for my family on Christmas morning. It’s a good way to use up the remaining breadcrumbs from making stuffing. It’s dead-simple (bread! sugar! eggs! flavorings!). You can take a basic bread pudding and get creative with flavors. I serve mine with hard sauce made with orange peel, allspice, maple and RUM. Because booze and brunch go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Hard sauce is a type of compound butter. You mix the goodies into softened butter and chill it into molds. You melt the “sauce” on the warm bread pudding and the result is brunch nirvana. Plus, the presentation impresses the f*ck out of people.
I decided to do things a bit differently for the brunch. I used this cinnamon roll bread pudding recipe by Tastes of Lizzy T. It’s basically a standard bread pudding except one substitutes chunks of cinnamon roll dough for the bread cubes. I wish I’d taken pictures of it because it came out beautifully. It was the hit of the buffet table.
It’s a holiday treat. So I follow my holiday treat practices. And, I leave the stuff at other people’s houses to reinforce sticking to a reasonable amount. If it’s in my house, it’s in my mouth. I’ll probably share my Christmas morning bread pudding and get some actual process pictures to show how this common recipe is made. I’m already dreaming about my traditional breakfast.