Bread pudding with Port wine – recipe

When it comes to sweets, several countries use old bread to make their version of French Toast (in Portugal, those are called rabanadas) or bread pudding. You may not think bread pudding is Portuguese as such, but what if we were talking about a decadent pudding moistened by the powers of Port wine? We can claim this amazingly rich and satisfying dessert as our own!

Ingredients for 10 servings:

150g old bread (crust removed)

500ml milk

250g sugar

6 eggs

50g raisins

30g butter

1 lemon

2 Tbsp red Port wine

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 pinch of salt

plenty of liquid caramel to taste (store bought or home-made)

Recipe directions:

Soak the dry bread with warm milk and let it soften. Afterwards, blend to make a homogeneous paste and pour it in a bowl. Beat the eggs with the sugar and add to the bowl with the milk. Mix and add the remaining ingredients: the zest of one lemon, melted butter, raisins, port Wine, cinnamon powder and salt.

Coat a cake mold with liquid caramel. If you are making it at home, prepare it by mixing 200g of sugar, 2 Tbsp of water and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and bringing the liquid to a boil. Simmer for about 8 minutes until the transparent liquid darkens. Once it caramelizes, remove from the heat. 

Pour the pudding batter inside the caramel coated mold and bake inside a preheated oven at about 160ºC, in a water bath. Cook for about 1 hour, remove from the oven and allow it to cool down completely before you demold the puding upside down, so that the caramel side is on top. Serve and enjoy with a glass of Port wine!

Have you tried a traditional Portuguese recipe using old bread?

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