Dates Are The Naturally Sweet Ingredient Perfect For Bread Pudding
Making bread pudding is both a sustainable way to use up your old bread and, of course, a truly delicious dessert. Satisfying flavors aside, bread pudding is also super easy to make, so it's a perfect recipe for novice bakers to learn. Another more underrated characteristic of this dish is that it's super customizable. With most recipes calling for little more than a loaf of stale bread, milk, sugar, and butter, there's a whole lot of room for some unexpectedly delicious additions to shine. If you want to add some more flair to this beloved classic, try throwing some dried dates into the mix next time you whip up a batch.
Aside from being one of the healthiest sweet snacks on the planet, this naturally sweet ingredient is perfect for bread pudding as its unique flavor adds depth to a familiar recipe. The innate molasses-like flavor of dates will make for a more complex taste, and its soft and chewy qualities make for more texturally interesting bites. Finally, the naturally moist makeup of dates will help it easily bind to all the other ingredients of bread pudding. If you haven't tried this combination yet, now's your chance.
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How To Incorporate Dates Into This Classic Dessert
If you're eager to renew your love for your tried and true bread pudding recipe, start by grabbing a package of dried dates from the grocery store. When your bread is stale and ready to use, it's time to make this iconic dish -- with an added twist. First, follow your bread pudding recipe as normal until all of your ingredients are sitting ready to bake in a shallow pan. To add in the dates, pit as many of them as you'd like to use. Now you can either throw the dates in whole into your prepared pan or blend them with warm water and pour this sweet mixture on top. You can even blend dates with other sweet ingredients and make it a frosting for when your bread pudding's been cooked.
Either way, it all depends on what texture you most prefer. However you make it, the rich, caramel-like flavor of dates will infuse your bread pudding with even more sweet flavor, and make it one of your most memorable desserts yet. But dates are just one ingredient that can elevate the flavor of your bread pudding. (And if you really like the way dates taste here, consider making some plum bread pudding next). If you're curious about what else would incorporate well into this dessert, here are a few more tasty ways to elevate your bread pudding.
Other Ways To Elevate A Classic Bread Pudding
While dates bring a sweet caramel flavor to bread pudding, other fruits such as bananas or apples can work just as well. Bananas can bring a soft, silky bite to bread puddings, while apples lend their comforting aromas and sweet, acidic bites to the dish. Cherries can also bring a sweet, dark depth to bread pudding, so get creative with your fruits of choice.
Naturally sweet options aside, bread pudding can also be elevated with the presence of chocolate. From a dollop of Nutella to a handful of dark chocolate chips, there are plenty of options featuring all different levels of sweetness. Peanut butter could be another great layer of flavor to use to complement chocolate in this recipe.
Finally, for some added crunch, a soft bread pudding could benefit from the presence of nuts. From walnuts to peanuts to pecans, bread pudding's classically sweet flavors mean different nut varieties can pair well with it. That's the beauty of this dish: It's the perfect blank canvas that you can elevate with any of your favorite ingredients. So get creative and enjoy this familiar and comforting classic dessert as you see fit.
Read the original article on Daily Meal.
