Grilled Bread Pudding With Fresh Fruit Food

FRUIT AND NUT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine bread and sugar. Set aside. In another bowl, beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until foamy. Pour over bread and sugar; mix well. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours. , Stir in all remaining ingredients except cream. Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. , Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until firm. Cut into squares. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream if desired.

VERY BERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• NOTE: I have found that people tend to fight over the browned top crust of bread pudding so I solved that problem by baking mine in a 10" round x 4" deep Pyrex casserole, ensuring everyone of receiving a large portion of browned pudding with enough soft pudding underneath. This meant that I had to use a 17" x 13" x 2" deep broiler pan for the Bain Marie or water bath. If you choose to use a different size baking dish, results may vary, such as a longer baking time. My bread pudding ended up being 2.5" deep.
• Directions for bread pudding:.
• Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Fill tea kettle with enough water to fill a 13" x 17" pan, half way up with boiling water. Bring water to boil, then turn down heat to a simmer, for later use. Butter the casserole dish; set aside.
• Place the 2 cups of milk in a large saucepan, uncovered, over medium heat. Let the milk heat in the pan, without stirring, until a skin forms on top and it is scalded. Or, if this makes you uneasy, stir the milk and continue heating until small bubbles form along the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, place the eggs and yolks in a large mixing container with a pouring spout. Beat or whisk briefly, only to mix, not until they are foamy or light. (This beats too much air into the custard)
• Gradually add the sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and salt, beating only until well mixed.
• Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, slowly add 1/4 cup amounts of the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring gently. When 1 cup of warm milk has been added into the egg mixture, add the remaining milk and stir gently. This process is called "tempering", making sure that your eggs don't "scramble" in the pan from the heat of the milk! Set aside custard mixture.
• In a large bowl, tear the Hawaiian rolls apart into large chunks, totaling 6 cups. Using a large mesh strainer, pour your custard mixture slowly over the bread roll cubes. (Straining the custard catches any lumpy egg whites.) Stir very gently, making sure that the bread rolls are all thoroughly coated. Allow to rest in the bowl for 10 minutes. Stir twice.
• While the bread is soaking up the custard, measure out your frozen berries. I'm lucky enough to have a deep freezer so I have individual bags of the berries, but a quality brand of mixed berries with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and black raspberries can be used. They should NOT be mashed!
• Gently fold the 2 cups of mixed frozen berries into the custard/bread mixture. Pour this into the prepared casserole dish, using a spoon to make sure that the berries are well distributed and that the raspberries are pushed down into the custard, to fill their little centers.
• Place the casserole dish into the broiler pan and place this into the oven, leaving the oven door open. Carefully pour the hot, boiling water into the pan, going up to 1/2 the height of the casserole. NOTE: PLEASE BE CAREFUL! I have a long-necked tea kettle so there is no risk of burning myself. However, if you feel more comfortable filling the broiler pan with the hot water prior to placing it into the oven, do what makes sense for YOU!
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a sharp knife inserted 1 inch into the middle of the custard comes out clean. Carefully remove the broiler pan and place on a heat-proof surface. Lift the casserole out of the water, place it on a wire rack and cool for 1 hour or until a comfortable eating temperature. Allow water in broiler pan to cool, dump out when safe to the touch.
• Serve warm, cool, cold. Plain or with topping of choice. Just enjoy it, however you please!
• Directions for Orange Whipped Cream:.
• Have ALL of your ingredients and equipment ice cold! I store the beaters in the bowl in my frig and have a small dish of the sifted powdered sugar in there, too. (Sifting the powdered sugar after you've measured it eliminates nasty sugar lumps!)
• Remove bowl, beaters, whipping cream and powdered sugar from the refrigerator. Insert beaters into machine, shake whipping cream multiple times to integrate the butter fat; pour into the bowl.
• Starting out at the lowest speed, beat whipping cream until it slightly thickens. Starting out at a lower speed prevents splashing all over.
• Once cream begins to thicken, increase speed to medium high and whip until soft peaks begin to form. Increase speed to high and slowly add the powdered sugar to the whipped cream, being sure to reach all corners of the bowl if doing this with a hand mixer.
• When firm peaks have formed, add vanilla extract and 2-3 drops of orange oil (or orange zest) and blend only until combined, about 10 seconds.
• Serve a dollop of this on top of the still warm Very Berry Bread Pudding. The whipped cream is also good in your coffee, with a dash of cinnamon!

TROPICAL BREAD PUDDING WITH GRILLED BANANAS & RUM ANGLAISE

Steps:

• Cut cake into toast-size slices; spread 1 side with softened butter and sprinkle each with one teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Lightly brown the buttered sides in a large skillet while preparing other sides the same way.
• After cooking both sides, remove toasted cake from skillet and place on a plate with about 1/3 cup melted vanilla ice cream, allowing cake to soak up the melted ice cream from the bottom.
• Peel bananas and set aside.
• In skillet over medium heat, melt 1 stick butter. Add orange juice and stir in brown sugar. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until mixture completely liquefies.
• Add bananas to coat, cooking for about 2 minutes. Remove bananas to grill and continue to cook until tender.
• Remove sauce from heat, add 2 tablespoons rum, and baste bananas with sauce while grilling. When bananas are cooked to your liking, return them to the skillet with the sauce. Slice as desired; diagonally works best.
• Stir the remainder of the ice cream into a bowl of whipped cream and add 1 tablespoon rum.
• Place a piece of cake on a dessert plate, cover with sliced grilled bananas, top with brown sugar sauce, and ladle vanilla rum sauce around the cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve.

FRENCH BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Cut bread in 1-inch cubes and place in a bowl. Pour milk over it; let stand for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13x2-inch oven-to-table baking dish.
• In another bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Stir this into the bread mixture. Add the dried cherries.
• Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool to room temperature, cover with aluminum foil, and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before reheating. Reheat, covered with foil, at 325°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Pass a pitcher of cream to moisten.

GRILLED SUMMER BERRY PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the grill to high. Lay the slices of bread slightly overlapping in a shallow flameproof dish. Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of the sugar in an even layer over the bread and grill for about two minutes until the bread is toasted and the sugar is just starting to caramelise. Mix the cornflour into the fromage frais.
• Pile the fruit down the middle of the bread and sprinkle with 1 tbsp of the sugar. Drop spoonfuls of the fromage frais mixture on top, then sprinkle the rest of the sugar over evenly.
• Put the dish as close to the heat as you can and grill for about 6-8 minutes, until the fromage frais has browned and everything else is starting to bubble and turn juicy. Leave it to sit for a minute or two, then serve hot, spooned straight from the dish.