For a change, to make this bunch of desserts, you can use one particular stale ingredient that is about to expire – bread. So we have a trio of bread recipes for kids sweet and wholesome in itself, which kids will surely love. Most of these recipes are baked goodies with plenty of custard used to soak the bread for a delicious serving of these special desserts for a special occasion.
1. Bread and Butter Pudding
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
- 1 kg (approx) white bread, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
- 130 gm raisins
For the egg mixture:
- 3 eggs
- 375 ml milk
- 250 ml heavy cream
- 40 gm unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 100 gm sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Finishing touches:
- 3 ½ tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Ice cream, custard, and chocolate sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Then add the milk, heavy cream, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
- Add the bread and raisins to the egg mixture. Gently toss everything together, making sure the bread is fully coated. Let the mixture sit for three minutes, for the bread to soak up the custard.
- Grease a 10-cup baking dish next, and transfer the soaked bread into this dish and arrange it in the pan to be spread out evenly.
- Drizzle the two tbsp of melted butter evenly over the top of the bread pudding.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center is set but still slightly wobbly when poked.
- Once out of the oven, brush any remaining melted butter over the top of the bread pudding. Then dust the top generously with powdered sugar.
- Let the bread pudding rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, with your choice of toppings mentioned above.
2. Shahi Tukda
Ingredients
- 6 bread slices
- 750 ml milk
- 120 gm sugar
- Ghee or oil, for deep frying
- 45 gm pistachios, chopped
- 1.5 tsp cornflour
- 9 strands of saffron
- 4 drops of rose essence
Instructions
- Soak the saffron strands in 3 tablespoons of warm milk. Crush them with your fingers later.
- In a saucepan, add the remaining milk and sugar. Heat and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves completely, and you have a thick concoction.
- In a small bowl, mix cornflour with 2 tablespoons of milk, until smooth, and slowly pour it into the hot milk syrup, whisking continuously. Simmer for a few minutes until it thickens to a pourable consistency. This is your rabri.
- Remove the crust from the bread slices and cut each slice diagonally into four triangular pieces.
- In a shallow pan, heat ghee or oil over medium-low heat. Fry the bread triangles until golden brown and crispy on both sides.
- Fry each batch of bread and immediately soak the fried pieces in the hot milk-sugar syrup for about a minute.
- Arrange the soaked bread pieces on a serving platter.
- If not done earlier, stir the chopped pistachios into the rabri.
- Pour the warm rabri over the soaked bread pieces, coating them evenly. Then drizzle the rose essence over the top.
- Serve the shahi tukda chilled or at room temperature, allowing time for the bread to soak up the flavors of the rabri.
3. Milky Pan Pudding
Ingredients
- 6 slices of brioche bread, cubed into 2.5 cm pieces
- 4 eggs
- 240 ml whole milk
- 180 ml heavy cream
- 120 gm granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
For the caramelsauce:
- 75 gm granulated sugar
- 60 ml water
- 240 ml heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs in a big bowl and then add milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until you have a smooth liquid.
- Add the cubed bread pieces into the custard mixture and toss to coat each piece of bread. Let the bread sit for 15-20 minutes, for the bread to soak up the rich custard.
- Then transfer the soaked bread into the prepared baking dish, securing it in place.
- Bake the bread pudding for 35-45 minutes, until the center is set and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool outside.
- While the bread pudding is baking, make the caramel sauce. Cook the sugar and water in a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is amber.
- Carefully pour 1 cup of heavy cream and whisk continuously until the caramel has fully dissolved and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt. Allow the caramel sauce to cool for 5-10 minutes before drizzling it generously over the top of the baked bread pudding.