Tastes Great, Less Filling Bread Pudding

Ok, ok, I know I said I had had enough of this and was done. But it's like having been drinking all night, knowing you've reached your limit, but ordering one at last call. So here it is: 

A friend of mine many months ago professed her love of bread pudding to me and asked if I would make it. I said I would, but didn't and not just because I had never eaten bread pudding let alone made it, but merely because I found nothing funny about it. Fast forward to present day, me free from the bonds of blogging and standing in a bakery with said friend, who once again craved her fave. This time, I soberly declared my intention to make it, Googled a recipe (Williams-Sonoma), saw that list of ingredients was quite simple (baguette, eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) and we set ourselves to baking. The only issue was our baguette was fresh, and it turns out using day old bread works better as it absorbs more of the liquid - so we ended up using more bread and increasing the baking time. In order to achieve a custard-like consistency. Otherwise, it was the best tasting bread pudding I'd ever had. And, it reminded me of kugel (exact same flavor profile) except the bread gave it a lighter feeling versus the very fine kugel noodles (see Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Kugel). At the end of the day, the lessons learned were as follows:  when three people tell you you are drunk, go lie down and when someone  asks you to make bread pudding, just do it.

Miller Beer's iconic "Tastes Great, Less Filing" ad campaign launched in 1974, made a beer loving calorie laden nation stand up (literally) and take notice. I'm sure none of of mad ad men could of in their wildest dreams imagined thousands of drunk stadium goers getting on their feet and daring the next section over to counter the "tastes great" declarative chant, with a no less robust "less filling" reply. The only real problem is the actual product does not taste great, and while it may be less filling, I personally like to feel sated. Lite Beer, it invented you.

The Recipe:

12 slices day-old baguette, cut into 3/4-inch   cubes

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (like your 6-pack abs after drinking Lite Beer)

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

4 cups milk

1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins ( I used Golden Raisins as that's what I had)

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Spread the bread cubes in it.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well blended. Pour in the milk and whisk until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Let stand, pressing down on the bread occasionally, until it is evenly soaked, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350°F.

Scatter the cranberries (or raisins or even cranraisins) evenly over the surface of the soaked bread and press to submerge the fruit. Set the baking dish in a large, shallow roasting pan. Add very hot tap water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

Bake the pudding until a knife inserted near the center comes out almost clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Generously dust the top of each slice with confectioners' sugar. Serves 8.