Sunshine Bread Pudding

Most of my cooking begins with me pawing through the contents of my pantry, fridge, and freezer.  Other times, I find myself with a handful of odds that I just don’t know what to do with and the creative insanity begins.  This bread pudding originated from the second:  the end of a baguette so stale it dented my rolling pin when I tried to break it and the leftover squash from my hopeful risotto.  Throw in some evaporated milk for richness, carrots for sweetness, cranberries for tart, and orange extract for sunshine and you’ve got a bread pudding bursting with fall flavors and delicious for breakfast or dessert.  If you’ve got an orange on hand, mix the zest into the custard for even more orange flavor.  This is delicious plain, but I discovered that my favorite way to eat this was with a generous drizzle of Baileys.  It’s also good with crunchy spiced meringue nuts (and if I can ever find the notes I took, I’ll post that recipe as well).

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup pureed butternut squash

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp orange extract

½ tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

2 cups stale bread cubes

2 cups chopped carrots

½ cup dried cranberries

1. In a casserole or soufflé dish, whisk together milk, squash, sugar, vanilla, orange extract, cinnamon, and eggs.
2. Stir in the bread cubes and refrigerate overnight.  (My bread was so stale I had to drop the whole thing in and soak it overnight before I could break it in half, and a second night before I could break/tear/cut it into small pieces.  If you’ve got stale bread instead of stale rocks, one night will be sufficient).
3. Steam the carrots until tender (2 minutes in the microwave on high), and let cool to room temperature.  Preheat your oven to 350°.
4. Stir carrots and cranberries into bread mixture.
5. Bake until custard is set and no longer jiggles in the middle, a knife inserted near the middle comes out clean, the top of the pudding is puffy and golden brown, and your kitchen smells yummy, about 60-90 minutes.
6. Serve warm.

Serves 3-4