Sheri’s Bread Pudding

I am well aware of the audaciousness of putting your name in front of a recipe like you are some kind of Food Network star, but this recipe is one of only a few recipes that I can call my own. I cook a lot from other people’s recipes. Like my approach to personal service providers and products (manicurists, eyebrows, etc) if I find a good one, I stick to it. If it aint broke, I don’t need to invest any time fixing it. Awhile back though, I was making bread pudding from Traditional Jamaican Cookery  by Norma Benghiat. As I mentioned on Nix’s facebook, this one along with Enid Donaldson’s The Real Taste of Jamaica  are my Old and New Testaments of Jamaican cooking.

So when I wanted bread pudding couple years ago, I pulled out the two books, decided on Benghiat and went about baking. Don’t quite remember why I made the modifications I did (I almost never stray from the recipes when baking), but at the end of the process, I had a bread pudding that I can call mine. To give credit where credit is due though, I always start with Benghiat recipe on page 146, but I substitute the water for more coconut milk and add sliced almonds – and that my friends is how it becomes Sheri’s bread pudding. If you ever made one the way I’ll outline below, and one outlined in the book, you mout will know the difference. A few tips: almost any bread will do, but when I can get it, I use hardough. When I cant get hardough bread (usually when I am home in Missouri, I use French bread). Either way, mek sure it likkle stale. I mostly use Yummy bread, and one loaf is typically one pound.

½ lb bread

2-2½ cups of coconut milk (two cans, enough to saturate the bread)

1/3-cup raisins

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1-teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoons nutmeg

Approx. 1-cup sugar (sweeten to your taste)

2 eggs beaten

Break bread into small pieces and soak in coconut milk in a large bowl. Soak bread until fully saturated (I let it sit for 30-60 minutes). Break up any remaining lumps; add raisins, almonds, vanilla, nutmeg, and sugar to taste. Add the beaten eggs after you have sweetened to your liking. Pour mixture into a greased baking dish (I like Pam for Baking ) and bake at 350°F, 180°C degrees for one hour or until set.

The folks in Lisa’s office love it and as soon as they hear I am in town, they always request one. When you mek it, mek mi know if it eat good you hear!