Rhubarb Raspberry Bread Pudding, my new favorite dessert. A vanilla custard bread pudding with a raspberry rhubarb syrup.
Rhubarb is showing its presence, so surely Spring is on its way. One of the first fruit/vegetables to break through the ground with the promise of warm weather. It is officially a vegetable but since people in the United States eat it as a fruit, the Customs department declared it a fruit to lower duties on it. Who knew the US government had the power to change a vegetable into a fruit.
Most commonly we see this paired with strawberries which compliment the tart flavor. However I chose to use raspberries instead and the combination is even better. This is the most amazing dessert, my new favorite. I‘ve always been a bread pudding fan but no bread pudding I’ve tried can even come close to this one. Not only is the rhubarb raspberry mix great, but you infuse cream with a vanilla bean and then pour that wonderful infusion over bread to make a custardy bread pudding that is perfect. As if that isn’t enough, you reduce the raspberry rhubarb syrup and pour it over, or on the side of the bread pudding. I have been eating this non-stop since I made it for dessert on Friday night. I don’t often repeat recipes in the same month but I may have to make an exception for this one. This would also be wonderful in the dead of winter. I am going to try to find either a farm or the farmers market and get some fresh. What I found at the grocery worked, but it was kind of puny. It’s easy to freeze, just wash, dry, and cut into chunks. I’m on a mission to find fresh rhubarb.
When my grandparents were alive, my grandmother had a patch of rhubarb that came up every year. She added it to everything. It was especially nice mixed with apples in her homemade applesauce. She lived in Warm Springs, Idaho and if it can grow there I know we can grow it here. Let me know if you know where I can find some local rhubarb and any tips you have on growing it in North Carolina.
PrintRhubarb-Raspberry Bread Pudding
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 whole vanilla bean, split
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup red raspberry preserves
- 1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 pound day old rustic bread, crust removed and sliced into large cubes
Instructions
- Butter a 2 quart baking dish.
- In a saucepan, combine butter, cream and milk. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the cream and add the split pod. Add brown sugar. Heat on low heat until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes.
- In a second saucepan, combine 1 cup water with preserves and cook over medium-high heat until it simmers. Add rhubarb. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the rhubarb is just starting to become tender Remove from heat and set aside. You don’t want the rhubarb to be mushy.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and cloves. Remove the vanilla pods from the milk mixture and slowly whisk the milk mixture into the egg mixture.
- Layer half of the bread pieces into the prepared baking dish. Scoop out rhubarb from the poaching liquid and layer 2/3’s of it on the bread layer. Save the remaining rhubarb and liquid. Layer the remaining bread over the rhubarb. pour the milk-egg mixture over the bread. Press down gently to help the top layer absorb the liquids.
- Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquids. Layer the remaining rhubarb over the top.
- Preheat oven to 350º. Place the baking dish inside a larger roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with enough water to reach half-way up the side of the bread pudding dish. Bake for 1 hour, or until the pudding is set and golden brown.
- While baking, simmer the reserved liquid over high heat until reduced, about 10 minutes. Serve with the pudding.
- Bountiful
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