Italian Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

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This Italian bread pudding is a very simple and easy bread pudding recipe. This bread pudding makes use of stale Italian bread and a few basic ingredients that are baked in the oven and topped with an easy vanilla sauce. It is great for entertaining and so easy to make.

What is Italian Bread Pudding

Italian bread pudding is very similar to American bread pudding. It has golden raisins and uses stale Italian bread and a simple custard to hold it all together.

One main difference with this Italian bread pudding recipe is there is no cinnamon added and you press the sweetened milk out of the bread before baking. Another is it uses Italian bread. It does however require the same basic ingredients to soften up the stale bread and transform it into something that tastes so amazing.

This bread pudding recipe has a simple delicious condensed milk vanilla sauce that is poured over the top. It is no fuss and very easy to make while the bread pudding is baking.

I love this Italian dessert so much because I hate to throw out any food (unless it goes bad.) Getting to eat dessert and making sure I am not wasting food is a win-win here.

The Best Bread For This Bread pudding

This Italian bread pudding uses stale Italian baguette bread. If you do not have stale bread or cannot wait to make the recipe then a store-bought baguette from the bakery section (without any toppings or butter) can be used.

Just make sure to leave it out on the counter overnight to toughen up.

Remember, the more preservatives that are in the bread, the longer it will take to get stale. Basically, all-natural bread is not only better for you but better for your bread puddings!

Another important note about the type of stale bread to use is you want stale bread that is tough and not dry. If you have bread that dried out too much like a crouton then that would not taste as good.

Stale and chewy is the name of the game for bread pudding.

Ingredients

Eggs. I use large eggs for this recipe.
Stale Italian bread. I like using Italian baguettes (like Filone) or Italian round loaf bread that is purchased from a bakery. You want to avoid ciabatta bread however since its consistency with many holes in the crumb is not conducive to absorbing liquid.
Milk. You want to use whole milk.
Butter. Unsalted butter is preferred or your bread pudding will taste too salty.
Sugar. Regular granulated sugar.
Golden raisins (optional but recommended)
For the vanilla sauce for the bread pudding- sweetened condensed milk, butter, milk and vanilla

How To Make Italian Bread Pudding

The steps are very simple.

Preparing the bread pudding from heating milk and sugar together, slicing the bread and combining it all.

Heat Milk and Sugar- Gently heat the milk in a pan on the stovetop to allow the sugar to dissolve fully in the milk.
Prepare Bread And Raisins- Slice the Italian bread and allow it to soak in the sweet milk mixture and soak the raisins.
Press: Strain the bread and gently press out any excess milk mixture. The bread will absorb as much liquid as possible when it is soaking. Once it cannot absorb any more, that excess milk is strained out. Depending on the dryness of your bread, the amount of milk it absorbs will vary.

Preparing the bread pudding from the steps of combining the milk and raisins through mixing it together then baking it in the oven.

Mix it all together- Combine the strained bread, raisins and eggs then gently mix it all together.
Bake- Add the bread pudding mixture to the ramekins then bake in a preheated 325-degree oven until it is nice and firm and golden on top.
Prepare Sauce- While the bread pudding bakes, you can prepare the vanilla sauce in a small saucepan on the stovetop.
Serve: Serve the bread pudding slightly warm allowing it to cool for just a few minutes once out of the oven then drizzle it with a little sauce.

Variations

If you cannot find golden raisins, you can use regular purple raisins.
You could also just leave out the raisins if you prefer.
If you need a dairy-free alternative for the milk or condensed milk, then you can substitute dairy-free milk for the regular milk in the recipe.
If you do not have individual ramekins, you can combine this whole recipe for the four servings into a small square baking dish, about 8"x 8". If you are using a round baking dish then a small round 6"x2" dish.
If you do not have Italian bread, sliced French baguette will work too.

Recipe Faqs

Should bread pudding be served hot or cold?

You always want to serve your bread pudding almost right out of the oven. Just remove it from the oven and let it sit for a couple minutes before serving.

Can bread pudding be made ahead of time?

Yes, this bread pudding can be made ahead of time. Just follow the recipe all the way through baking, just let the bread pudding come to room temp after it is done cooking then refrigerate.

Storing And Reheating

You can store the cooked bread pudding in the fridge covered for up to one week. It is best to store it without the vanilla sauce so the bread pudding doesn't absorb it all while being refrigerated.

To store the sauce, just allow it to cool then store it covered in the fridge for one week as well. Gently reheat it on low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through.

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Print Recipe

5 from 8 votes

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Servings: people

US Customary - Metric

Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

½ of a stale Italian baguette cut into ½ inch slices
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup golden raisins
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter (unsalted) for greasing your ramekins
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Vanilla Sauce

7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter (unsalted)

Instructions

Bread Pudding

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
In a small pot heat your milk and sugar until the milk gets hot and the sugar is dissolved.
1 ½ cups milk, 1 cup sugar
While your milk is heating, place your stale bread into a shallow dish. Now pour your hot milk mixture over this and let sit for 20 minutes.
½ of a stale Italian baguette
Now in a small bowl add your raisins and enough hot water to cover them and let those sit for 20 minutes.
½ cup golden raisins
While your bread and raisins are soaking, butter 4 large ramekins (or 6 medium sized ramekins) and sprinkle with a little bit of sugar and spread it around so that it covers all of the butter. Set these aside.
1 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
Once your bread is done soaking, pour it through a large sieve and with your hand gently press out some of the milk. Now place your bread into a large bowl.
Drain your raisins and add those to your bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk your egg and egg yolk and add that to your bowl and mix all of your ingredients together carefully as to not break up your bread too much.
1 egg, 1 egg yolk
Now scoop out your bread mixture into your ramekins making sure they are all even and sit just below the rim.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, increase your oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes.
While your bread pudding is baking you can make the sauce.

Vanilla Condensed Milk Sauce

With a small saute pan over medium heat add your sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon of milk, vanilla and butter and mix until it is heated through and becomes silky.
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
Turn off heat and leave on the stove.
Once the bread pudding is ready, remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
After resting, drizzle liberally with the vanilla glaze. Enjoy!

Nutrition

What is Italian Bread Pudding

The Best Bread For This Bread pudding

Ingredients

How To Make Italian Bread Pudding

Variations

Recipe Faqs

Storing And Reheating

More Dessert Recipes