Honey flavored Bread Pudding with Raisins and Cashew Nuts

Bread Pudding is dessert made with a commonly available ingredient - bread. It is popular in many countries in Europe, the Americas', Australia .... Some versions of bread pudding include alcohol - bourbon, rum, some include honey, some others nuts, raisins, dried fruits, etc. Syrup and sauces are also added when serving, to enhance the taste further.   

 

Today, I have added honey and vanilla essence to flavor the pudding along with some cashew nuts and raisins for that extra bite. I also broiled it for a few minutes for a brown and lightly crisp top.

Ingredients
Bread slices - 7
Milk - 2 cup
Eggs - 4
Sugar - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp additional (optional)
Honey - 3 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Take some of the butter and grease a loaf pan or square cake pan. 

 

Cut the crusts off the bread slices and cut into 1 inch square pieces. Put the bread pieces into the greased pan and pour the remaining melted butter into the pan. Reserve a few raisin and cashew nut pieces for topping and add the rest to the bread pieces.

In a bowl, add the milk, sugar, 2 tbsp honey and vanilla essence and mix. Break the eggs into the milk mixture and whisk with a fork till the sugar is mixed in. Pour this on the bread and using a spoon press the bread into the milk mixture till all the pieces are well soaked.

I used granulated sugar and depending on how sweet you want adjust the sugar.

Put the pan into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 20 minutes spoon the honey over the pudding and carefully spread it all over the top. Top the pudding with the reserved raisins and cashew nuts and continue baking. Once the 45 minutes is up, change the settings to broil and broil for about 5 minutes to get a browned top. Let it cool.

 

Cut slices and serve with honey and cream on the side.

 

 

Tapioca Pearls / Sabudana and Almond Pudding

Tapioca pearls, as sabudana is called in the Far east makes for a good pudding because of its gooeyness when cooked. Sabudana is used widely in India, from sabudana khichdi to sabudana vada to sabudana payasam and also sabudana papad. This pudding recipe uses almond milk  with the sabudana and hence works for lactose intolerant people and vegans. But if getting almond milk is tedious, substitute the almond milk with whole milk and it tastes just as good.

I used home made almond milk for this recipe. Soak it for about 18 to 20 hours then wash it well and grind it whole - nuts and skin, to a fine paste. Add water to the almond paste as required to make a thick or thin milk. The milk will have brown specks from the almond skin but almond skin is not bitter or distasteful so it can be left in there. If you are really averse to it go ahead and strain and use.

This recipe also works for people on vrat / fast and would make a healthy dessert as well especially with almonds in it. It is a very mild pudding and relies on the flavor of the almonds and the rose essence to lift it up.

Ingredients
Sabudana - 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Almond Milk - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Rose essence - 5 to 8 drops

Soak the sabudana in double the water for about 6 to 8 hours. If you are unable to soak for that long its ok it will only increase the cooking time a little. When ready to use drain the water out and keep aside.

Heat a saucepan, add the water and the drained sabudana and let it cook on very low heat. As the sabudana cooks the water is absorbed by it. Keep an eye on it so that the sabudana does not catch the bottom. When almost cooked add thick almond milk to it and mix well. Let it boil, check if the sabudana is cooked then add the sugar and mix it in. This pudding is not very sweet, you may want to adjust the sugar according to preference. Add the rose essence and mix it all well. Keep the pudding lightly liquidy because it thickens as it gets cool. More almond milk can be added if it gets too thick. Take it off the heat and keep aside.

 

Refrigerate it and serve it cold.

 

Update:

This recipe for Tapioca Pearls / Sabudana and Almond Pudding is going to these events :

-  "Diwali Special" hosted by gayathriscookspot.

-  "Diwali Bash 2013" hosted by cooksjoy.

-  "Diwali Delicacies Event" jointly hosted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes & spicytreats