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Creamy, rich, custardy bread pudding flavored with Asian milk tea will set you off to a great start in the morning. It is also a great way to repurpose leftover stale bread.
What is milk tea?
A basic milk tea is typically made from a combination of brewed tea, milk, sugar and/or condensed milk. The tea can be black, green, oolong, or other types, and the milk can be dairy or non-dairy, like almond or soy milk. Milk tea can be served hot or cold, and it’s often shaken or blended to create a frothy texture. The modern-day milk tea has toppings such as tapioca pearls (boba), fruit jelly, or pudding added to it. It has become popular worldwide and comes in many flavors and variations. So my milk tea bread pudding inspiration comes from this milk tea.
Easy Milk Tea Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 300 g stale bread brioche, shokupan, challah are the best
- 300 g whole milk
- 300 g heavy cream
- 12 bags black tea or use your favorite tea
- 80 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 200 g eggs from 4 large size eggs
Serve with:
Instructions
- Grease 9 x 9 baking dish or 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish with some oil, cooking spray, or butter
Prepare the tea:
- Pour whole milk into a saucepan and bring just until it starts to simmer. Don't let it boil. Turn off the heat and put all the tea bags into the milk and let them steep for 10 minutes.
- Then remove the tea bags, squeeze out as much milk as you can from the tea bags and discard. Let the mixture cool down to lukewarm
Prepare the bread pudding:
- Cut the stale bread into about 1/2-1 inch cubes. If your bread is fresh, you can bake them in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for about 10 minutes to “dry” them out so they can soak up more custard, which makes the best bread pudding
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk tea, heavy cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt
- Add the bread cubes to the egg mixture and let the bread soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Make sure they are soaked in the milk mixture.
- Transfer to a prepared baking dish
- To make ahead: Add the bread cubes to the egg mixture and pour it to the prepared pan. Make sure they are soaked in the milk mixture. Cover with a cling wrap, pop this into the fridge to let them soak overnight and bake the next day.
Baking:
- 10 minutes before the end of the soaking time, preheat your oven to 375 F (190 C) for conventional oven, 350 F (180 C) for convection oven. If you put it in the fridge overnight, get it out from the fridge about 30 minutes before you plan to bake
- Place the pan inside the oven on the middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are brown and the middle just a bit wobbly. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. The internal temperature at the center should be around 170 F (77 C)
To serve:
- Serve the bread pudding warm with drizzle of condensed milk
To store:
- Store the already cooled-down bread pudding, covered in cling wrap, in the fridge for about 3 days
How to reheat bread pudding:
- You can reheat it in the microwave in a 30 seconds increment. I recommend heating it in the oven. Wrap the bread pudding in aluminum foil and bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Uncover the foil and let the top gets crispy again for about 3 minutes
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
Ingredients and substitutions
1. Stale bread
The best bread to use is stale enriched bread like challah, shokupan, brioche or any white sandwich bread. When they are stale, they are dry and able to absorb the custard, which gives lots of flavor to the bread pudding
2. Whole milk
I highly recommend using whole milk instead of low-fat milk because it does make a difference when it comes to creaminess and that rich taste. If you want it dairy-free, you can use full-fat canned coconut milk and omit the heavy cream. Replace the amount of heavy cream with coconut milk instead
3. Heavy cream
Heavy cream adds that extra creaminess to the custard, which I highly recommend too, especially if your first time making this. If you must substitute you can replace the amount with whole milk.
4. Tea
I use black tea bags. You can use another type of your favorite tea. I use 12 bags and steep it for 10 minutes so the flavor is strong enough. You can even use more if you want it even stronger
5. Brown sugar
I don’t sweeten the bread pudding itself a whole lot because this pudding is drizzled with condensed milk just before serving. So I don’t want it to be too sweet. Feel free to adjust the amount of sweetness
6. Eggs
I use large-size chicken eggs. In the past, I have tried replacing the eggs with flax eggs and chia eggs, but my family didn’t like it because it felt very dense and just not the same. But it’s an alternative if you are vegan or want it egg-free
7. Salt
A pinch of salt helps to tie all the flavor together
8. Condensed milk
This is used to drizzle on top of the bread pudding. If you want it dairy-free, you can use sweetened condensed coconut milk or sweetened condensed oat milk
Tips for making great milk tea bread pudding
1. Choose the Right Bread: As I’ve mentioned before, stale bread works best as it will soak up the custard without becoming too mushy. Brioche, challah, or shokupan are good choices. You can bake the bread in the oven if they are not as stale
2. Steep the tea longer: You want to steep the tea longer than usual when you make a cup of tea for drinking. You want the flavor to be strong because it will be diluted after we add milk to it
2. Let It Soak: Allow the bread to soak in the custard mixture for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. This ensures the bread absorbs the flavors and moisture evenly.
3. Don’t Overmix: Gently mix the bread and custard to avoid breaking down the bread too much.
4. Check for Doneness: The pudding is done when the custard is set but still slightly wobbly in the center. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean with a few sticky crumbs is okay.
5. Let It Rest: Allow the pudding to cool for a bit before serving to let the flavors meld together.
6. Serve with Sauce: Bread pudding is often served with a sauce, in this case, condensed milk
Did you make this easy milk tea bread pudding recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
