Strawberry Bread Pudding

by Cindy

Strawberries are starting to show up in the farmer's markets and are ready to pick in the fields.  My dad used to take my brother and me to pick strawberries every year and we loved it.  I think I ate more than I picked.  When I lived in the country it was so neat to get to do that again.  There were several strawberry patches in the area and you could pick them yourself or they would pick them for you, and when I was a mail carrier, I could take a break for lunch and stop at a house on my route and buy a big flat box of already picked strawberries.  Again, when I was preparing them, I seem to eat a ton right then.  So needless to say, I do love strawberries. 

I don't really have that many strawberry recipes and the best one I have is the one Christy is going to post, which was from her dad's mother's recipes.  I was looking around for different ideas and found this recipe for Strawberry Bread Pudding.  It is a simple recipe and I took it to work for an annual meeting event for the company I work for, and my nephew gave the recipe a "10."  Everyone seemed to like it too. It has a bottom  layer of brown sugar that makes it really delicious. 

Go get some fresh strawberries today and enjoy!

Strawberry Bread Pudding

1 1/4 cups (packed) brown sugar

4 1/2 cups 1/2-inch cubes bread

7 large eggs

2 cups half and half

 1 cup whole milk

2 T sugar

2 t vanilla extract

1/4 t cinnamon

2 pinches of salt

2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Spread brown sugar evenly in bottom of an 8x8 inch baking dish.  Spread bread cubes evenly over the brown sugar. 

Combine eggs, cream, milk, 2 T sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl: whisk to blend well.  Pour custard through sieve over bread in dish.  Spread strawberries over the top of the bread and mix into cubes and custard. 

 Let the pudding stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing on the bread and berries to submerge.

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place baking dish in a roasting pan.  Pour enough lukewarm water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of baking dish.  Bake pudding until set, brown on top, and small knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Let cool in water for 20 minutes.  Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from achowlife.com