Saturday 19 January 2008

Christmas Leftovers - Panettone Bread Pudding

Ok - I started writing this post a while back but never finished it! So, unfortunately the subject is a bit dated...Christmas!!!!!!!

The history on this one ....My mother-in-law loves Panettone and since she and my father-in-law have spent a fair amount of time in Europe, we decided to get an Italian one..(well, from the Italian deli). We were also going to have 6 people in the house over the Christmas period so we splurged at the Italian deli and got a huge one! By huge - I truly mean HUGE and was wondering how we would finish it. It turned out to be very delicious and would have got over except for the fact that I was dying to try a Panettone Bread Pudding recipe I found in a magazine several years ago.

The pudding looked beautiful coming out the oven and smelt delicious. I had a bite...and oops, disliked it! I felt so sad that it did not turn out well coz the smell and look were umm....yummy AND, I had been treasuring this recipe for years, waiting for an opportunity to make it!
Anyway, I asked my sister-in-law to taste it. She liked it and said it was fit to be served. Okaay.. I was still unsure but went ahead and served it to everyone else. Some had it with ice cream and some without. Guess what, they all liked it!?! The pudding was almost over and honestly, I was shocked. Perhaps the lesson is - I don't like bread puddings! I have never had one before, so I did not know what to expect..!



Ingredients
1 loaf panettone (32-35 ounces) cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Butter for baking dish

Method
Heat oven to 325F. Place panettone in a bowl. In another bowl whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolk, sugar, zest and vanilla extract. Pour over the cubes of panettone and let soak for 5 minutes, stirring 2-3 times gently. Pour mixture into buttered baking dish and bake for 60-70 minutes.