Bread Pudding

It might sound a cliche but yes Bengalis are fond of sweets and I am no exception either. I have a sweet tooth and I yearn for something sweet after my every meal. When we were in Kolkata, sweets were sacrosanct part of our daily diet. Any occasion would remain incomplete without a tub of rosogollas and why not that be? Kolkata abounds with confectionaries selling various types of sweets with each one of them outdoing the other in taste and quality. Remarkable creativity and innovation go into the preparation of each one of those sweets. But sweets are not specialities in Bangalore as they are in Kolkata. Hence the chances of tumbling upon a top quality confectionary in Bangalore are very limited and the taste doesnot even come close to the ones sold in Kolkata.Literally, I am left with no option but to learn cooking sweet dishes in order to fulfill my craving.The following is a bread pudding recipe that serves as a good dessert. Whenever I have an excess of breads one or two days old, I make use of them by preparing bread pudding or bread pakoda or bread bhurji and they always come out nice and relished with pleasure by family.

Ingredients:                                                    Cooking time: 45 minutes

8-9 slices of breads (shredded with crusts removed)

3 cups of milk

1 tbs butter

2 cups of sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

1/2 cup raisins

Preparation:

1) Boil the milk on medium heat and drop a scoop of butter into it. Keep them on oven till both butter and milk combine well.

2) Mix eggs, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and sugar in a separate bowl and beat the mixture till it becomes smooth with no lumps. Add the milk gradually and stir well.

3) Remove the crusts from the breads and tear them into tiny shreds.

4) Grease a bakish dish and arrange the bread crumbs. Then sprinkle raisins on top of the bread crumbs.

5) Pour the milk admixture over the bread shreds. Make sure that all the bread pieces are dipped in the mixture. Now set your oven at 180 degree C ( about 350 degree F)  and bake for about 30 minutes or till a toothpick or fork inserted in the pudding comes out clean.