As Cookie mentioned Bread And Butter Pudding is a very forgiveable recipe. I like to have a little custard ribboned through the bread so I use less bread or increase the custard if I am making it for a crowd. Sometimes I cut the crusts off and sometimes I don't. Other times I leave the slices whole, butter and layer and sometimes I butter the bread and then cut it into cubes before tossing with the custard. You can use just about any bread you want. Regular White, French, Italian, raisin, etc... I've made it using a Chocolate bread too and instead of the caramel sauce I served it with a cream anglaise sauce. I've also used leftover gingerbread cake and a spice cake to make this pudding. It was amazing with the caramel sauce.

Zucchini bread will probably fall apart and get mushy in bread pudding. It'll be a lot better if you put something airy and glutinous with it. Best bet would be a braided challah because of the long strands and airy crumb. Don't cut the challah too small--let it give some structure and something for the zucchini bread to cling to. And, whatever you do, don't stir it a lot or you'll have zucchini bread soup. You can soak the challah in the custard, but your best bet, for your star ingredient, would be to fill up your pan with the breads, as densely as you can, so the zucchini bread doesn't dissolve, pour on the custard/flavoring mix, and add as much bread as you can. You can press at this point. Just don't squash it too hard. A plastic plate to keep the bread down would be better than a real weight. For the custard, you're right to cut the sugar. If you want it to be a sweet dessert maybe add a little, but it shouldn't require it to be good, especially if you're planning a hard sauce. You could also add some dried fruit to add sweetness, instead. Soak it in the custard for an hour before you mix with the bread. Or you could macerate the dried fruit in liqueur and cook off the alcohol. I haven't tried this, but it occurs to me that an alternative to a traditional bread pudding that might work is to slice the zucchini bread maybe half the height of the pan, dry the slices, then line the pan in two layers of slices and pour the custard over. Let the custard settle and soak in and add more to fill the pan, and maybe another round if it needs it. That would be a lot less stirring and squishing, and the large pieces would have more integrity. More like making a French toast pie. If you want to add fruit, nuts, etc., do it between the layers of bread. Good luck!

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!!

LOL, AnnT, I knew you'd approve. Mother says the raisins remind her of little dead bugs in there. (snicker) Some apricots might be really good, though, or some of your caramel sauce and I was thinking about raspberries. Sorry, LindaC. PM, now that sounds like dessert! I'm still passing mine off as breakfast. I think we'll always be on Weight Watchers, Elery keeps calling it a "lifestyle". He's lost 90 pounds and I think he's too thin, but he just won't give it up. Colleen, I'm thinking Amanda would love it, made with gluten free bread and coconut milk, I'm definitely going to have to do that. Martha, my bread never gets thrown away. Most times it becomes bread crumbs, but this is a much better use of challah, I think. Nancy, I've seen french toast and bread pudding made with pumpkin or banana bread, but never an unsweetened type. Now that's a lucky accident, you could call that "recipe development"! SheilaJoyce, I don't have that cookbook, but that sounds just like the bread pudding Grandma made, with vanilla and cinnamon and lots of custard. I always figured it was because us kids ate nearly all of the bread and didn't leave that much, so more eggs than bread. Mother is having some more of it right now with coffee, she says all her pills are easier to take with bites of bread pudding to help them down. Yeah, that's her story... Annie