Bread pudding is one of those classic repurpose-excess-bread dishes, like French toast, or strata.
Well, its just gotten even simplerand a little bit more festive, too.
This setup allows the bread to make plenty of contact with the custard and soak it up.
Sadly, Ive found that this method leads to dry, lackluster bread pudding.
The surface is so exposed that the bread pudding ends up more crunchy than custardy.
Prepare to have your mind blown: Small loaves of sliced bread fitperfectlyinside of the average loaf pan.
Its like they were made for each other.
It completely removes the need to cube your bread.
I also incorporate a water bath in my recipe.
The finished dish is like the most tender pumpkin pie but buttery and scoop-able.
Simply take the entire loaf out of the plastic sleeve, and slide it into a well-buttered loaf pan.
Its not the end of the world, but thats the little bit of work were trying to eliminate.
Come back to the bread and give it a smoosh.
Your fingers will get custard on them, if youre doing it right.
Once the bread looks well-soaked, sprinkle the top of the loaf with a bit of cinnamon and sugar.
This will bake into a crunchy, caramelized cinnamon toast layer.
Next, make an easy water bath.
Put the entire thing on a baking sheet and slide it into the oven.
The leftovers reheat gloriously in the microwave, completely restoring the tender custard.
Do make whipped cream or buy a pint of vanilla ice cream to scoop on top.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Generously butter or grease a loaf pan.
Slide the entire sleeve of Thomass bread into the loaf pan.
Pour the custard over the bread in the loaf pan.
Shift and move the slices so the custard can get all around every slice.
Allow it to soak for five minutes.
The slices should lose a little height here.
Sprinkle the top with a bit of cinnamon and sugar.
Place this water bath situation on a sheet pan and put it all in the oven.
