Post-Holiday Bread Pudding

A Great Way to Use Up That Panettone Sitting on Your Counter

Happy New Year! I skipped the standard year-end roundup post (it seemed redundant after the anniversary post in November), but I’d just like to say, heading into 2024, how very grateful I am for all of you who read and cook from this newsletter. The ability to find a growing audience for my fun, quirky passion project has been a highlight of this past year, and I hope you’re all enjoying this process of diving into California foodways as much as I am.

I thought I’d start the year off with a fun recipe I came up with on New Year’s (and try adding a little cooking video of this recipe that I made for my reels!). Let me know what you think in the comment link below!

Post-Holiday Panettone Bread Pudding

Do you have a box of panettone sitting abandoned somewhere in your kitchen this week? If you saw friends or coworkers or neighbors over the holidays, you probably do. The tall, fluffy, candied fruit-studded Italian bread has become a ubiquitous holiday gift, almost like the classic fruitcakes of our grandparents’ generation. And just like that much-maligned holiday food, loaves of panettone seem to be gifted a lot more than they’re eaten.

My guess is that most Americans don’t enjoy the panettone they’re given simply because they don’t actually know how to eat one properly. I certainly didn’t. When I first tried one, I sliced into it and ended up with a dry, unappealing piece of bread. Thankfully, I eventually (accidentally) discovered the secret to enjoying this treat: you need to heat it. Toasting a slice of panettone magically transforms it into something soft and squishy while also amping up the flavors of the candied fruit. You can even stick the whole thing in the oven (as my friend Elizabeth Poett did when I visited her a couple weeks ago), then slice it up and serve it on a breadboard with some butter on the side.

This revelation gave me another idea for using up orphaned loaves: turn them into bread pudding. I gave it a whirl on New Year’s Day, when I needed something to take to a potluck brunch, and the result was fantastic. Because the panettone is already studded with fruit, you don’t need anything more than eggs, milk, and a touch of sugar to turn it into a great dessert/decadent breakfast. That said, I did augment mine a bit: following the example of Tartine Bakery, which makes my very favorite bread pudding, I sautéed some fruit while the casserole was in the oven, then piled everything together. The result was so good that I decided I should share the recipe.

(Pro tip: Panettone is on sale in grocery stores all across the country right now, so if you don’t have one but want to try this recipe anyway, it will be an affordable purchase!)

Serves 6–8

1 panettone
4 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing
6 eggs
3 cups whole milk
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Kosher salt
Orange, for zesting
6 medium Fuji apples (or similar)
½ cup light brown sugar
1 handful blackberries

1. Cut the panettone into thick slices (about 1” wide) and remove the paper wrapping. Set one end piece aside (this is a treat for you, the cook—try it toasted with butter while you bake!) and lightly toast all the rest in a toaster or a hot oven. While the bread is toasting, butter a rectangular casserole dish. Tear the warm bread into bite-size pieces and put them into the prepared dish.

2. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a large bowl, then whisk in the sugar, vanilla, some orange zest, and a pinch of salt. Pour the mixture into the casserole, over the bread, then use a wooden spoon to press the bread into the pan so that every piece soaks up some of the liquid; when you’re done, the bread should be mostly submerged.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F; let the bread sit and soak up the liquid while it heats. Bake the pudding until the custard is fully set, about 45 minutes (you’ll see the center rise a bit and the mixture will no longer slosh at all if you move the pan around).

4. While the pudding is baking, make the topping: Slice up the apples and sauté them on high with the butter until they start to soften up, about 10 minutes depending on the size and heat of your pan. (To speed things up, you can put a lid on your pan for part of the cooking time; letting the apples steam as they release their juices will help them soften.) Add the brown sugar to the pan and continue to sauté until the apples are caramelized and soft, another 10 minutes or so. Stir in the blackberries and a little more orange zest and cook everything, breaking up the berries with your spoon, just until they soften, about 2 minutes.

5. When the pudding is done, pour the apple mixture on top and spread it out. Let everything cool and set up for about 15 minutes before serving (or serve at room temperature).

Photo and Video: Georgia Freedman