Make-Ahead Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Bread soaked in pumpkin custard and baked until softly set with browned bread tips, then served with warm homemade caramel sauce. This small-batch dessert serves four and can be assembled the night before.
Equipment
- 1-quart / 1-liter baking dish, approximately 7 × 5 inches
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Small heavy-bottomed stainless-steel saucepan
- Wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula
- Cake tester
Ingredients
For the pudding
- 6 oz day-old white bread 170 g; about 2⅔ cups, cut into ¾-inch / 2 cm cubes
- 5 oz pumpkin puree 142 g; a scant ⅔ cup; not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 large eggs approximately 100 g without shells
- 2/3 cup half-and-half 160 ml
- 1/3 cup whole milk 80 ml
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar 50 g
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons light brown sugar packed; 24 g
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice approximately 2 g
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 ml
- 1/6 teaspoon fine salt a generous pinch; approximately 1 g
- 1 teaspoon butter softened; 5 g; for greasing the dish
For the caramel sauce
- 1/2 cup granulated cane sugar 100 g
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 43 g; softened and cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup heavy cream 60 ml; at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt 1.5 g; or to taste
Instructions
- Butter the baking dish, including its corners. Cut the bread into ¾-inch / 2 cm cubes and spread them inside without packing them down. Leave the crusts attached unless exceptionally tough.
- Whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, half-and-half, milk, both pudding sugars, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and pudding salt until evenly blended. Scrape the bowl's bottom so no thick pumpkin pockets remain, then pour the custard over the bread.
- Let soak for 30 minutes, gently pressing exposed bread into the liquid. Before baking, fold the mixture once to redistribute the custard. Alternatively, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Use a baking dish suitable for the intended temperature change; do not put cold glass directly into a hot oven unless the manufacturer permits it.
- Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C with a rack in the middle. Bake for approximately 30–45 minutes, checking from 30 minutes. The surface should begin to brown, and a tester inserted into the center should emerge without liquid custard. A deeper dish or refrigerated mixture may need longer.
- While the pudding bakes, put the caramel sauce sugar in the saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula; it will clump before melting into an amber liquid. Watch the color rather than a fixed time, and do not let it become dark brown or smell scorched.
- Carefully stir the softened unsalted butter into the melted sugar. Slowly pour in the room-temperature heavy cream while stirring, then let the combined sauce boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the sauce salt. The mixture bubbles vigorously when the dairy goes in, so keep your face and hands away from the steam.
- Rest the pudding for 10 minutes after baking. Let the caramel cool slightly; it will thicken as it cools. Spoon the pudding into bowls and drizzle with sauce, passing the remaining sauce separately. Keep the sauce separate when saving leftovers.
