Christmas Bread Pudding

5 from 2 votes

Bread pudding is all dressed up for the holidays with apples, dried cranberries and a warm, rum-spiked cream sauce. This Christmas Bread Pudding is a festive, super comforting dessert.

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Total Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, British

Servings:

Calories: 527kcal

Author: Valerie Brunmeier

Ingredients

Bread Pudding

6 cups bread cubes I used about ¾ of a 1 pound loaf French bread
1 medium apple like fuji, gala, or honeycrisp
½ cup dried cranberries
4 large eggs
1 cup 2% milk see notes below
1 cup heavy whipping cream see notes below
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Spiced Rum Cream Sauce

1 cup heavy whipping cream or half-and-half
3 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon spiced rum like Captain Morgan, omit if using extract
1 teaspoon rum or vanilla extract omit if using spiced rum
Dash ground nutmeg

Instructions

For the Bread Pudding

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set it aside.
Place the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, 5 to 7 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the toasted bread cubes, apples and cranberries. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture over the bread mixture and mix until well combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Place the baking dish inside a deep, large casserole dish or roasting pan. Fill the larger pan with water about halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake at 350 F degrees, checking periodically and adding more water if necessary. After 50 minutes, gently press down on the center of the pudding. If wet custard seeps to the top, let it bake for an additional 5 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out mostly clean.

For the Spiced Rum Cream Sauce

Whisk together the cream or half-and-half, cornstarch, and sugar, in a heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over MEDIUM heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is just slightly thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the spiced rum (or extract) and nutmeg. Serve the sauce warm spooned over servings of the bread pudding.

Notes

Bread: I use a loaf of French bread but any sturdy bread will work. Challah and brioche are nice choices. Avoid sliced sandwich bread which can become too mushy.

Dairy: For the bread pudding, I use equal amounts 2% milk and heavy cream because that is what I usually have in my fridge at this time of year. If you happen to have half-and-half on hand you can substitute it here. For the silkiest, tastiest sauce, I recommend using all heavy cream or half-and-half.

Spiced rum: Instead of investing in a whole bottle, you can pick up a airline sized bottle or "nip" of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum at the liquor store. You can substitute rum extract or vanilla extract if you'd prefer a booze-free sauce.

Nutrition