Can I assemble my bread pudding now...

[Canice]

...and bake it later tonight? Or will it get too gooey if I do that? I'd like to serve it hot out of the oven later, after dinner. TIA

[muriel3002]

Hmmm. I'm not sure if that is a good idea. Are you using bread that is torn or cubed? Is it rather structured? I guess I mean, is it sturdy and won't degrade in the milk?

[Canice]

The bread is cubed and there's a lot of liquid (milk, pumpkin, beaten egg whites). The more I think about it, the more I think it's a bad idea. Maybe do it now and very briefly nuke individual servings later..

[Jazzmatazz49]

My opinion is that bread pudding is better if it sits for at least an hour or two. You don't really want cubes of bread sticking up and getting dried out as it cooks. I've never let it soak all day, but I wonder if that might not make it even better?

[muriel3002]

Canice -

As the experimenter with the bread pudding - what did you do and how did it turn out? I'm curious because I have a bread pudding recipe that calls for star anise and I use cinnamon/raisin bread for it. However, it is time consuming to make.....

Muriel

[funniegrrl]

Bread pudding is SUPPOSED to sit around for a while after it is assembled before baking. I have seen strata recipes (which is essentially a cheesy savory bread pudding) that call for overnight soaking, so I don't see why you couldn't do that with sweet bread pudding. The longer it sits, the more "puddingy" it will be, and the less like "bread and custard."

[manetta]

Hi, Canice. CL's Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding is on regular rotation in our house. That particular recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated from 30 minutes to 4 hours. I have refrigerated it for as long as 4 hours without a problem. Any longer and I would guess that the bread would break down and get mushy.

Good luck!

[Canice]

Huh, I hadn't thought of it in terms of the overnight stratas or such; I was just picturing GOO so I went ahead and baked it and then nuked each serving for about 45 seconds - which was just fine. I think I might be unclear on the concept of bread pudding, as I actually *like* the bread-and-custard texture as opposed to the more dense/broken down type. Maybe because the first time I ever had it (I was around 25!) was in a now-defunct neighborhood restaurant where they had soft, moist chunks of bread with a ribbon of cinnamony-chocolate and creme anglaise running through..sort of set my expectation for bread pudding.

[KellyD]

Most of my recipes for bread pudding specify that for making ahead, bake and then reheat. I have done it a day or so ahead of time, then rewarmed in the microwave, and it's been wonderful. In fact, I think it's better the next day anyway! And it makes serving dessert so easy.