Hawaiian-bread Pudding

I have this hate/hate relationship with bread pudding as explained here. But with alot of things in life...it never hurts to give it a try again. I had some Kings Hawaiian Bread leftover from the 4th of July BBQ so I decided to mix up some bread pudding. It tasted fantastic, I wanted to pick off all the top of the pudding and dunk each piece into caramel.....

Hawaiian-bread Pudding


Liberally butter a glass baking dish and pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.

• 1 C. Whole Milk
• 1/2 C. Fat Free Half & Half
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom 
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 8 Hawaiian Bread Rolls
• 1/4 C. Sliced Almonds
• 4 tbsp Butter 
• Cinnamon/Sugar (optional)

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Cut the Hawaiian bread into quarters, dunk them into the custard and pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, cinnamon sugar and dot with butter. Bake in a baine marie until custard sets. Slice and serve with warm caramel sauce.

TWD: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

After this was finished I was left wondering why I don't make more bread. Bread is easy. The only intimidation is time and the crossing of your fingers & toes in hopes that your yeasties will work for you. Which they usually do... I may jinx myself by saying they always do so I will stop at usually.

This delivered a good punch of tasty flavor with a bare minimum of effort because sitting around waiting for dough to rise is a pretty lazy thing in my book.

You can grab the full recipe over at food.baby the bloggy home of Susan.

I can't leave without adding a link to the obnoxiously burping yeasties from the Alton Brown episode Dr. Strangeloaf.

Carrot Raisin Quick-bread

What do you do when you come back from a Hawaiian vacation? Well most unpack and wash their laundry..... I had to bake! We were lucky enough to have a washer & dryer in our condo so we brought home only a teeny tiny bag of clothes that needed washing. Woo hoo!

Carrot Raisin Quick-bread

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Butter [softened]
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Juice [Orange, Apple etc.]
• 1 2/3 Cup AP Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1 Cup Carrots [grated]
• 1 Cup Raisins
• 2/3 Cup Walnuts [chopped]

Direction: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil a loaf pan. Grate the carrots. Soak raisins in hot water to plump them up.

In a big bowl using a hand mixer combine the sugar and butter until fluffy, then add in eggs and juice. Sift or whisk together the dry ingredients and mix into the wet just until no more dry remains. Drain off raisins and add them with the carrots & walnuts folding gently with a large spatula. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with a little sugar on top to give the crust a nice crunch.

Bake until a tester comes out clean 45 minutes - 1 hour depending on your loaf pan.

Bake Along: Garlic Knots

The long weekend is the perfect time to make something that takes a bit more time in the baking department... something bready... something garlicy and something perfectly suited to go with a Labor Day BBQ!

Megan from My Baking Adventures sent over the following recipe for Garlic Knots, adapted from King Arthur Flour. But you can also find the recipe it was adapted from here.

For the Dough:
3 C Bread Flour
1/4 C Milk
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Instant Yeast
1 1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 C + 2 tbsp Lukewarm Water

For the Glaze:
2 to 4 Peeled & Crushed Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp Olive Oil or Garlic Oil

Directions
In a bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients together and add the oil & water. Using the paddle attachment or dough hook, mix and knead to form a smooth elastic dough adding additional water or flour as needed. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it and allow it to rise for about 1 hour until doubled.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a rope about 10 inces long; tie each rope into a knot. Place the knots on lightly greased parchment lined baking sheet, cover and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they are puffy looking.

Whisk together the garlic, oil and set aside.

Bake knots in a preheated 350F oven for 15/18 minutes, they should be set and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and brush or drizzle with oil. Serve warm.

If you bake along, let me or Megan know so we can see how yours came out. I'm thinking maybe a little parsley or Parmesan in mine ;)