Can I use fresh bread for bread pudding?

Stale is better — dry bread drinks the custard without collapsing. If all you have is fresh, cube it and dry it in a 140°C oven for 10 minutes first. Day-old brioche or challah makes the most luxurious version.

What's the difference between bread pudding and bread and butter pudding?

Cousins. Bread and butter pudding is made with buttered slices layered in the dish; bread pudding uses cubes tossed through custard, baking denser and more spoonable. Both are grandmother-certified ways to use a stale loaf.

Puddings · Old-Fashioned Classics

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

Name: Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 400 g stale white bread (or brioche), cut into 3 cm cubes; 75 g butter, melted, plus extra for the dish; 100 g raisins or sultanas; 500 ml whole milk; 250 ml cream; 4 eggs; 120 g soft brown sugar; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1½ tsp ground cinnamon; Good grating of nutmeg; 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for the top; Custard or cream, to serve

G By Our Grannies' Kitchen Updated Jul 2026 4.9 (81 ratings)

bread pudding

No bread died in vain in granny's kitchen. The stale end of the loaf — too hard for sandwiches, too good for the birds — went into the blue dish with milk, eggs, sugar and whatever raisins had survived the week, and came out an hour later transformed: custard-soft inside, golden and crackly-sugared on top.

The step that separates proper bread pudding from dry disappointment is the soak: a full 20–30 minutes with the bread pressed down into the custard, so every cube drinks its fill before the oven sets it. The second rule is granny's judgment call at the oven door — pull it while the centre still wobbles slightly. It finishes setting as it rests; bake it firm and you've baked it dry.

Warm, with cold cream running into the cracks. That's the whole point of winter.

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

Stale bread, vanilla-cinnamon custard and raisins — soft inside, golden on top.

Prep20 min

Bake50 min

Total1 hr 10

Serves8

4.9 / 5

8 servings

Ingredients

400 g stale white bread or brioche, in 3 cm cubes
75 g butter, melted, plus extra for the dish
100 g raisins or sultanas
500 ml whole milk & 250 ml cream
4 eggs
120 g soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla, 1½ tsp cinnamon, nutmeg
2 tbsp demerara sugar, for the top
Custard or cold cream, to serve

Method

Bread in. Butter a 23×33 cm dish. Toss the cubes in the melted butter and scatter in, tucking the raisins between (exposed raisins burn).
Custard. Whisk the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla and spices until fully combined.
Soak — don't skip. Pour over, press the bread down to submerge, and rest 20–30 minutes, pressing once more halfway.
Bake. Oven at 170°C (fan 150°C / gas 3). Demerara over the top; bake 45–50 minutes until puffed and golden with a slight wobble in the centre.
Rest. Fifteen minutes — it sets as it cools. Warm bowls, cold cream, silence at the table.

Granny's tip

Tuck the raisins under the bread cubes — any raisin left on top bakes into a bitter little cinder.

Tips for silky bread pudding

Respect the soak

Twenty minutes minimum. Dry cubes in the middle mean the soak was rushed.

Pull it wobbling

Just-set with a tremble in the centre. It firms as it rests — overbaked is dry forever.

Stale bread wins

Dry bread drinks custard without collapsing. Fresh loaf? Dry the cubes in a low oven first.

Questions, answered

Can I use fresh bread?

Stale is better — it drinks the custard without collapsing. If yours is fresh, dry the cubes in a 140°C oven for 10 minutes first. Day-old brioche makes the most luxurious version.

Why is my bread pudding dry?

The soak was skipped or the bake ran long. Full 20–30 minute soak, and pull it while the centre still wobbles slightly.

Bread pudding vs bread and butter pudding?

Cousins. Bread and butter pudding layers buttered slices; bread pudding tosses cubes through custard and bakes denser and more spoonable. Both are grandmother-certified uses for a stale loaf.