Raspberry Bread Pudding turns baked French toast into a vibrant breakfast casserole or an elegant dessert. Serve warm, optionally with a silky vanilla cream sauce. This version is inspired by Kneaders but uses less cream and sugar for a lighter result.
What is Bread Pudding?
Like a French toast casserole, bread pudding is a bread-based dessert made by combining cubed, preferably stale, bread with a rich egg-and-dairy custard and baking until set. Although most versions are sweet, savory bread puddings exist and make excellent breakfasts or side dishes.
Raspberry Bread Pudding (Baked French Toast)
This recipe is essentially baked French toast studded with tart, fresh raspberries. Adding berries brightens the custard’s richness and lifts the flavor. The dish can be prepared and baked immediately or assembled the night before and refrigerated for an effortless morning bake. A warm vanilla cream sauce turns it into a more indulgent dessert, though the pudding is delicious on its own.
The recipe borrows the idea from Kneader’s Raspberry Bread Pudding but reduces cream and sugar, increases the eggs, and adds spices for depth and a lighter calorie count without sacrificing that comforting, indulgent taste.
Toppings and Sauces
Bread pudding is enjoyable on its own but benefits from a sauce or garnish. Options include caramel, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, or a dusting of powdered sugar. For this raspberry version, a quick vanilla cream sauce—thick, creamy, and gently sweet—pairs exceptionally well. It provides a smooth contrast to the textured, berry-studded pudding.
Best Bread for Bread Pudding
Stale or day-old bread is ideal because it soaks up custard without collapsing into a single dense mass. If you only have fresh bread, dry it in the oven to mimic stale texture—this helps the cubes hold their shape and absorb liquid evenly. Sturdier breads like French bread, sourdough, brioche, or challah are common choices because their crumb soaks up custard without disintegrating.
In this recipe, frozen thaw-and-serve artisan French rolls were used for their sturdy texture and open crumb, which soak up the custard nicely after toasting in the oven to dry them out.
Thaw, cube, and toast the rolls on a baking sheet at low temperature until slightly dry. For this recipe, four rolls yield about 4 cups of cubed bread.
Ingredients
The main recipe uses 10 ingredients:
- Artisan French rolls, cubed (about 4 cups)
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream (or substitute half & half)
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Fresh raspberries (or thawed and drained frozen raspberries)
How to Make the Bread Pudding
- Preheat oven to 275°F. Thaw and cube the rolls, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake 15–20 minutes to dry the cubes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, brown and granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.
- Add the dried cubes to the custard, toss to coat, and let rest 20 minutes so the bread soaks up the liquid, pressing gently if needed to submerge any floating pieces.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-inch baking dish, tucking raspberries throughout. Bake at 350°F for 45–55 minutes until golden, puffed, and set in the center.
Vanilla Cream Sauce Ingredients
For a quick vanilla cream sauce you’ll need:
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream (or half & half)
How to Make the Vanilla Cream Sauce
- Melt butter in a small saucepan, then whisk in the flour to form a roux.
- Cook until bubbling, about 30–60 seconds, then whisk in sugar, vanilla, milk, cream, and a pinch of salt.
- Whisk constantly until the sauce simmers and thickens, then remove from heat, cover, and keep warm.
- Serve the bread pudding warm with a drizzle of vanilla cream sauce.
Serving and Storing
Serve warm with vanilla sauce or simply dusted with powdered sugar. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to five days. For longer storage, freeze components separately—pudding and sauce—for up to three months.
Troubleshooting
To keep the pudding moist, ensure the bread absorbs most of the custard before baking. Allowing it to sit in the refrigerator overnight helps. If it turns out watery, the bread likely didn’t have enough time to soak or there was too much custard relative to bread. If it’s dry, there wasn’t enough custard, it didn’t soak long enough, or it was overbaked. Covering with foil during part of the bake can help prevent excess drying.
Milk and Cream Substitutions
Whole milk and heavy cream create a rich, pudding-like texture. For a lighter version, use all milk (whole, 2%, 1%, or skim) or a nondairy alternative such as almond milk. Note that lower-fat or nondairy substitutes yield a less dense, less custardy result.
Alternative: Bread Pudding Cups
For individual servings, bake the mixture in a greased muffin tin or ramekins. This recipe should fill about 12–15 muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 30–35 minutes, placing a baking sheet underneath to catch any spills.
Enjoy!
Raspberry Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Bread Pudding:
- 4 frozen artisan French rolls, thawed and cubed (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 cup raspberries (if frozen, thaw and drain first)
Vanilla Cream Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Dash of salt
Equipment
- Half sheet tray or baking sheet
- Whisk
- Mixing bowl
- 9-inch baking dish or pie plate
- Muffin pan for individual servings (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275°F. Thaw and cube rolls to yield about 4 cups. Spread cubes on a baking sheet and bake 15–20 minutes to dry.
- Whisk milk, cream, both sugars, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.
- Add dried bread cubes, toss to coat, and let sit 20 minutes so the bread absorbs the custard, pressing down as needed.
- Grease a 9-inch baking dish, transfer the mixture, and tuck raspberries throughout. Bake at 350°F for 45–55 minutes until golden and set.
For the Vanilla Cream Sauce:
- Melt butter in a small saucepan, whisk in flour to form a roux, and cook 30–60 seconds.
- Whisk in sugar, vanilla, milk, cream, and a dash of salt.
- Whisk constantly until the mixture simmers and thickens, then remove from heat, cover, and keep warm.
- Serve bread pudding warm with vanilla cream sauce.
Notes
- Half & half can replace the milk and heavy cream if preferred.
- Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days or freeze components separately for up to 3 months.
- For individual servings, bake in greased muffin tins at 350°F for 30–35 minutes, with a baking sheet underneath to catch spills.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional values are estimates calculated with a third-party tool.