Very berry bread pudding is a healthier take on the classic custard style dessert. It’s so simple to put together, and an impressive dessert for any time of the year.
I bake a lot {obvs}, and usually that means my co-workers benefit from it. I’ll bring in a couple different desserts I’ve baked over the weekend because I can’t have it all in the house. For risk of it going bad, or you know, me eating ALL of it. ??
But this very berry bread pudding. Man o’ man. I did not want to bring this one into work. While I’m all for sharing, this specific bread pudding was one I wasn’t quite ready to part with. But after eating almost the entire first test of bread pudding, and all but shoveling a serving from the second test in my mouth, I knew I had to take it in.
There’s just something about soft, pillowy, sweet brioche bread that’s been coated in an egg and milk mixture that gets to me. Topping it with a combination of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries just sets it over the top.
Soaking it all up
Traditionally, bread pudding starts with day old bread to allow for maximum soakage {word?}. Then it’s coated in an egg, milk and sugar mixture that helps to create the custard-like style of bread pudding. I’m classifying this recipe as ‘healthy-ish’. Since the brioche bread isn’t all that healthy {at least not in the amounts that I eat this bread pudding}, I wanted to even it out with a healthier custard.
I used eggs, unsweetened vanilla almond milk and a touch of pure maple syrup. The brioche is already pretty sweet on its own, so there wasn’t a need for a ton of extra sweetness. If you can’t find brioche, just use any other one pound loaf of sweet bread. I’ve also used Hawaiian sweet bread to make this. Then comes the berries for the ‘very berry’ portion of this recipe.
Berry excited for very berry bread pudding
I used a bag of frozen mixed berries {make sure that they’re not sweetened, otherwise the ‘healthier’ factor goes out the window}. Rinse the frozen berries under cold water several times, until the water is only a light pinkish purple.
Pat them dry with a whole bunch of paper towels. This will help to keep the juicy berries from spreading so much. Layer them in the bottom of a greased bundt pan and top with the soaked bread pudding mixture.
Once baked, cool the bread pudding until the pan is just cool enough to the touch. Top with an extra-large plate and invert. You’ll end up with a gorgeous very berry bread pudding.
Now, if you’re serving this to guests, wait until after dinner to dig in. Otherwise, dig right in, and try not to eat the entire thing yourself…like I did!
- 1 {1 lb.} brioche loaf {or other sweet bread}*
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 2 ½ cups frozen mixed berries
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Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a bundt pan with cooking spray.
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Cut the bread into 1” cubes {I just mine into sixths} and place in a very large bowl.
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In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.
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Pour the mixture over the bread and stir to combine. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes to soak and saturate the bread.
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Meanwhile, rinse the frozen berries with cold water until the juices run a light pink-ish/purple. Dry them with paper towels. **
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Add the rinsed fruit to the bottom of the prepared bundt pan. Top with the saturated bread.
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Bake for 40-42 minutes, until the bread is slightly crispy on the top. Remove and let cool.
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Once the pan is cool enough to the touch, place a plate on top and flip over onto the plate.
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Top with cool whip, if desired.
*Note: I’ve also used Hawaiian sweet bread, and it turned out just as well. **Note: this is an important step. If the berries aren’t rinsed they will spread all over the plate when flipped over after baking.
