Turn some stale bread into delicious bread pudding infused with the flavor of Southeast Asia. The aromatic pandan leaves, coconut milk, and palm sugar bring this bread pudding to a new level good!
Cut the pandan leaves into small pieces. Add 100 g water and blend until it reduces to pulps. Strain the mixture and squeeze out any juice from the pulps. Measure to get 100 g. Top up with some water if needed to get 100 g
Prepare the bread pudding:
Grease a 8 x 8 baking dish or pan with some coconut oil. Cut the bread into about 1-2 inches cubes, you don't need to be exact here. Just don't cut too small
In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, coconut milk, pandan juice, pandan essence (if using), palm sugar, and salt
Add the bread cubes to the mixture and pour into the prepared pan and let the bread soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can also cover with a cling wrap, pop this into the fridge to let them soak overnight and bake the next day. Make sure they are soaked in the milk mixture.
10 minutes before the end of the soaking time, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, reduce the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. The baking time is just for reference. This also depends on the oven and the baking dish/pan you use, so adjust accordingly
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)
Prepare the sauce while waiting:
Combine all the ingredients. Whisk to make sure the cornstarch dissolves in the mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside
Keep the leftover in the fridge for no more than 3 days as the sauce turns watery the longer you keep it
Serve:
Serve the bread pudding warm or at a room temperature with the coconut sauce
How to keep leftovers:
Leftovers of bread pudding can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days
Notes
Bread like brioche, challah, shokupan is perfect for this recipe. 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