Bbstx,

I made a spice cake, and then used the leftovers to make my version of Bread and Butter Pudding. My recipe for the Pudding is a little different from yours in that it contains more eggs.

There was enough flavour in the cake that there was no need to add additional spices.

I think that you are on the right track if you add Cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice.

I served the Pudding with a caramel sauce.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Ling's Spice Cake
=================
1.5 cups of AP flour, sifted with the following dry ingredients:
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp butter with 1 cup of sugar, and add 2 eggs,
mixing well after each one.

Alternate dry ingredients into butter with 1/2 cup buttermilk.

Line loaf pan with parchment and oil sides, place in preheated 350
degree oven for approx. 55 minutes.

The caramel was just sugar, brandy, butter, salt and a bit of
cream.

If the muffins were bland, I would plan on adding some spices, and those would be the ones I would suggest -- classic flavors and you can decide whether you want to copy the proportions in your cheesecake recipe (a good starting point) or vary them, considering the flavor (or lack thereof) in the muffins versus cream cheese.

I would also cut back on the sugar since the muffins and the pumpkin both add sweetness -- maybe try 1 cup? And I would also cut back a bit on the milk since muffins will not be as dry as the bread and will dissolve in the liquid more than bread -- perhaps reducing half a cup.

If you are feeling adventurous, you could replace part of the sugar with some maple syrup (reduce the milk a bit more) and add dried cranberries.

If you will be using part bread and part muffins, adjust accordingly.

Thanks, ann_t. I like the idea of a caramel sauce.

Good point, lascatx. I had not thought about the muffins being sweeter than the french bread. Not only did I find these muffins bland, they were also pretty dry. I think I'll start small and add liquid as needed. At least I'm doing something I've done before, so I know what the mixture ought to look like. :-)

I won't be adding bread. I've got about a pound and a half of muffins. I'll only be using a pound to start.

I might use some maple syrup, but I'll be taking a portion of the bread pudding to a friend who is on a soft food diet, so I'll have to leave out the cranberries.

ann_t, did you cook your pudding in a muffin tin? If you did, please send time and temp for cooking. I think I'll cook mine in a muffin pan. It will make a better presentation for my friend!

No, that was actually I baked in a cake pan and then I used a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds. But a muffin pan would work too. I also bake my puddings in a bain-marie so that the sides do not brown.

You will be able to tell when it is baked when it is set and a cake tester comes out clean.

~Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Bread Pudding Options

Sounds like you have a plan now. I went back and looked at all the pumpkin bread pudding recipes I've wanted to try that I have handy on this computer and they were all for french bread plus pumpkin -- though I know I've seen recipes for pumpkin bread pudding made from pumpkin bread, You might google is you want to double check proportions, but as you said, you've done it before and know what it's supposed to look like. And bread pudding is not a critical balancing act. It will be reasonably forgiving.

Hope you and your friend will both enjoy it.

Well, I chickened out and put it in a 9x13 dish. I can only handle a couple of changes at a time.

The muffins were more moist than I remembered. 3.5 cups of milk gave me the right consistency. 1 cup of sugar was sufficiently sweet. I added 1/8 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, along with a shake of ground cloves. Actually I think it tasted better before the spices. An extra glug of bourbon in the sauce will hide most errors!

It's in the oven now.

Lascatx, I had searched for recipes online and got the same results - bread with canned pumpkin.

Ann_t, bain maries scare the fool out of me. All that sloshing hot water! I cooked the T'day cheesecake in a water bath, but it was extremely stress producing!

IT WORKED!! DH is now on his way to our friend with a basket holding jars of Creamy Tomato Soup, Potato Soup, and Butternut Squash and Bourbon Bisque, plus Pumpkin Muffin Bread Pudding and Bourbon Sauce. (I need to buy more bourbon!)

The Pumpkin Muffin Bread Pudding turned out beyond my expectations. Every time I pass it on the counter, I sneak a little bite. I think I need to refrigerate it just so I'll stay out of it!

Thanks, ann_t and lascatx, for sharing your cooking knowledge and wisdom. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to help me.

What a wonderful gift basket for your friend.
Glad the bread pudding turned out. I hope you kept some for yourself.

~Ann

I did the same thing with the leftover rolls I made from the previously posted recipe for butternut squash rolls only I used pumpkin. I just basically followed my original recipe for bread pudding - only I had run out of rum and used whiskey, it still turned out very good. I cut the rolls up in cubes and left them to dry out first.

Glad it turned out so well, and that sounds like a fabulous care package for your friend. You are a great friend. Happy to have been of any assistance. Isn't bread pudding wonderfully adaptive? and comforting!

Hooray for the success!

Re bain marie, I agree it's easier if you can let it cool in place, but if not, you can use a turkey baster to bail it until it's shallow enough to carry safely. And it never hurts to put rubber gloves on under your oven mitts. Or even wrap your arms in saran wrap. As long as you're not sloshing on anything but your armour or the floor, you're safe. :)

Thank you all for your kind words. My friend has no family and his not-very-serious GF is an hour and a half away. As I said in the thread about soft food, he eats most of his meals out, but with the cracked jaw, his choices were almost nil.

I have some blueberry muffins also frozen. They may be my next bread pudding target!

Thanks, plllog, for the bain marie tips. The pumpkin cheesecake cooled in the water, but that is the first recipe I can recall which called for cooling in the water.

I always think I'm going to handle everything well, but then without fail, the water starts sloshing. I hate even pulling the oven rack out because of the sloshing.

I'm glad it turned out so well, but I knew it would :) I accidentally left out the sugar in a loaf of pumpkin bread one year & made it into bread pudding & caramel sauce. Best bread pudding I have ever had!

I'm glad it turned out so well, but I knew it would :) I accidentally left out the sugar in a loaf of pumpkin bread one year & made it into bread pudding & caramel sauce. Best bread pudding I have ever had!

Blueberry muffin pudding sounds intriguing.

Oh! Bbstx, I was talking about removing the cake or whatever from the bain marie and leaving the bath behind to cool in place. You can use a pan gripper, or if that would damage, like with a cheesecake, you can glove up and use ridged silicone hot pads. You'd still have to deal with the hot water in the oven, but not sloshing. :)

Back close to the topic, I'm thinking of turning last year's leftover gingerbread from the caterer (which I've defrosted) into a savory bread pudding. :)

Can you see the glow from where you are? My friend called tonight and said my pumpkin bread pudding was the best bread pudding he has ever tasted. I am just beaming!

plllog, you have a much more well-equipped kitchen than I. No pan gripper, and until I hit the sidewalk sale at W-S yesterday, I didn't have oven mitts, just plain ol' potholders.

Now that DD is turning out sourdough bread fairly regularly, I may get some end pieces and try a savory bread pudding.

I'm having trouble reconciling "gingerbread" and "savory." I guess all of the gingerbread I've ever had (and it hasn't been much) was too sweet to convert to savory. Let us know how it turns out!

Oh, my! I can't deal with an oven without mitts. My great auntie made lovely potholders but I can't use them. My skin cries. :) Word of caution--if the mitts you got aren't water shedding, don't use them near the hot water from the bain marie. It's like touching a hot pot with a wet potholder or towel, but your can't drop it until you can get the mitt off.

Most are fine, but some are just pretty fabric. I have a pair of cute pink ones that I was given. Only, really, for taking a hot pot to the table because they're just cotton so not safe enough around water, and too pretty to use around spatter that will stain. :)

The bread pudding will still be sweet, because there is sugar in the gingerbread, but it's going to have sausage and lots of spices and fresh ginger and onions. The other bread is one of my sourdough starter discard breads, also from the freezer, and it's very sour, so I'm hoping they'll cancel each other out. :)

Congrats on delighting your suffering friend!!