Passport & Plate - Pondicherry French Bread Pudding
India | Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
1) 1 Loaf of white sandwich bread
2) 1 Small can of condensed milk
3) 1/4 Cup of brandy
4) 1/2 Cup of halved roasted cashews
5) 1/4 Cup of raisins and dried cranberries
6) 1/4 Cup of cherries and liquid from cooking down with brandy, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar
7) 2 Large eggs, beaten
8) 1 tablespoons of vanilla essence
9) Pinch of salt
10) Sugar (to coat baking pan)
How to prepare this recipe1) Coat base of 20-inch baking pan with sugar. Add a little water and place over low heat. Wait till sugar darkens to a dark amber colour.
2) Remove from heat. Stir sugar till evenly mixed. Tip baking pan from side-to-side till sugar coats the bottom and sides, leaving around half an inch of clear space at the top.
3) Leave in water bath to cool. While cooling, prepare pudding batter by soaking bread in hot water. Crust has to be removed beforehand.
4) Once bread has soaked water and has softened, squeeze out as much of the water as possible from bread.
5) In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients, starting by beating room temperature eggs. Add condensed milk, vanilla, brandy and liquid from cherries.
6) Combine mixture with bread and stir until both are incorporated. Add cashews, raisins, cranberries (if using) and cherries. Stir just enough until combined.
7) Pour into prepared, sugar-coated baking pan.
8) Place in oven that has been pre-heated to 180 Celsius. Bake for 50 to 70 minutes.
9) Start checking pudding after 50 minutes. The pudding is considered ready once the top is nicely browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. This pudding is more moist than the regular bread and butter puddings, so it should be slightly wetter on the inside.
10) Leave to cool on wire rack. Once cool enough to handle, flip it over a large tray or serving dish.
11) Before serving, pour some brandy all over the pudding and flambe.
The story behind this recipeMy ancestors came from Pondicherry in India, one of only two French colonies in what was by-and-large a bastion of the British Empire.
As a result, everything we were and did had a heavy Gallic influence - from our names, to our religiosity and perhaps most interestingly, our cooking. The family cuisine has always been a strange combination of Indian and French, and it was never odd to see authentic French dishes sitting side-by-side with Indian curries on our family dining table at mealtimes.
As generations passed, most of the old French recipes fell by the wayside in favour of the more easily prepared modern dishes. But the one thing that stood the test of time was my great-grandmother's bread pudding.
Usually a Christmas staple, the pudding was such a favourite of mine that I used to demand it for every birthday. In fact, I have not had a birthday CAKE since I was about 9 and it's an arrangement I'm perfectly happy to continue with.
The bread pudding was also one of the first things to follow me when I moved out on my own. I remember sitting my aunt down and trying to get the recipe from her - no easy feat since a lot of her cooking, and most traditional cooking for that matter, is down more to muscle memory and gut instinct rather than specific measurements and recipes.
Still, get it from her I did and 15 years later, I've not only made it a twice-yearly staple, but I've also introduced my wife to it and she has perfected it to the point that I'm not even needed anymore - the legacy of the pudding lives on.
So, what's so awesome about it? For one, you'll never find a pudding as moist and as succulent as this, no matter where you look. For another, there's nothing to beat it for sheer flavour. I make it a point to try out the bread and butter puddings, with or without custard sauce, at every restaurant and hotel I've been to, but nothing has come close. But hey, you've got the recipe. Try it for yourself!
