The frugalness of bread pudding,,,,

If you delve into the history of cooking, I’m sure you would remember our great-grandmothers, grandmothers and mothers were efficient and frugal when it comes to planning meals for the family. And nothing is thrown away!!

If you’re with me, you’d probably remember how leftover white rice is used to make sweet rice pudding and how “near to expired bread” or stale (by stale, I mean not the ones with the algae…just a day over the expired date!!) bread is used to make some sweet concoction of a dessert ~ the bread pudding!

This happened a lot in our household when we were kids, everybody used to fight over fresh bread, some were bought, some homemade, but everybody wanted the soft, freshly baked ones.

So, what do you think happened to the leftover bread that nobody wanted? Off they went into the mixing bowl, every single crumble.

   Added with fresh milk or evaporated milk, sugar and well-beaten eggs and vanilla essence, this concoction is baked for over an hour.

This became a wholesome, affordable dessert for big families like ours…there were 10 of us…everyone would scramble for more!!

There are various recipes of bread pudding to suit the palate. Some like the pudding soft which means, you simply have to add more water with the evaporated milk. For a dryer version, add less water.

For the added flavour, throw in some raisins, preferably the yellow ones as the dark raisins will get even darker when the pudding is being baked. If the vanilla essence can’t get rid of the egg smell, add a tinge of cinnamon powder….!

However, I always keep these enhancements under strict control otherwise the bread pudding loses its traditional characteristics!!

   For the added treat, this delicious concoction can be taken by itself or with soft vanilla custard and what was traditionally frugal food for peasants has now settled itself on the menus at leading hotels and restaurants…!!

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