Give Your Bread Pudding A Tropical Twist With One Canned Ingredient

Bread pudding, once dubbed the "poor man's pudding," came from the ingenuity of 11th-century English cooks who couldn't afford to discard leftovers. Despite its humble beginnings, the cozy dessert doesn't need to taste like it's struggling in the flavor department. Though delicious in its simplicity, there are plenty of ways to enhance bread pudding, such as imbuing it with a tropical taste with canned pineapples.

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Made with crusty, day-old bread softened by custard, the dessert sings with sweet, warm spices. While it does taste comforting with a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg, tropical flavors bring a sunny flair to the dish, balancing out the thick bread and silky custard. Pineapple's sweet, tangy taste brings a delicious zest that plays well with the other flavors, making it one of the best ingredients to elevate your bread pudding. With canned pineapple being affordable and useful in cutting down on prep work, it corresponds with bread puddings' origin of accessibility.

Any stale bread you have lying around is great for the dessert, but dense loaves like brioche, challah, or French bread work best. After tearing the bread into bite-sized cubes, mix eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, and condensed milk in a bowl. Add the bread cubes to a baking dish, followed by custard. Once the bread is thoroughly covered, pour the drained pineapple chunks in and mix everything before baking the pudding at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.

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Sweeten pineapple bread pudding with these ingredients

There's no need to stop at pineapples when sprucing up the treat. The tropical fruit works well with a multitude of flavors, making it just as versatile as bread pudding itself. Bourbon is a popular addition to bread pudding, but rum's tropical flair is more fitting for a pineapple version of the treat. Dark rum's caramel, spiced flavor brings a darker edge to the fruit, adding depth to the bread pudding. You can soak the pineapple chunks in the rum, or reserve the fruit juice to make sauce that goes over the dessert. Stir rum, pineapple juice, butter, and brown sugar at low heat on the stove and allow it to thicken before drizzling over your bread pudding.

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If you're not in a boozy mood, our rich bread pudding embraces deep flavors that are perfect for pineapple. It features raisins, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and brown sugar, creating a warm, fiery taste that's brought to life by zesty pineapple. You can chop up the pineapple chunks into smaller pieces and swap them for the golden raisins to give the dish a tangy tinge. To fully embrace the tropical vibe, add pineapples to sweet plantain bread pudding. Pineapple's acidity helps to balance the sweetness of the ripe plantains and caramel sauce, while still boosting the fruitiness of the dish.

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