Leftover Irish Soda Bread Pudding and Vanilla Custard is a New Classic
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Who has leftover soda bread from Saint Patty’s Day? Just me? Okay. Well, in that case, you might want to go grab one of the discounted loaves off the bakery rack because I’m about to blow your mind: Irish Soda Bread Pudding. Actually…
Irish. Soda. Bread. Pudding. With. Vanilla. Custard. Sauce.
You’re running to the store now, so I’ll wait.
I love this recipe for Irish soda bread pudding because dry or stale soda bread is a real problem. Nothing is quite so disappointing as cutting into a loaf that’s suddenly gone crumbly and dry. But fear not, because you can soak those dry bits in some luscious custard, bake it up, and drizzle it in a finer custard for a truly decadent end to Saint Patrick’s Day.
The Origin Story of Irish Soda Bread Pudding
Here’s how this got started. The Saturday before St. Patty’s, we had friends over for our annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, and I cheated and made a boxed mix of Irish Soda Bread. Right away, there was something off about the mix. It smelled like a yellow cake mix, which is definitely not something you want in your bread.
As a backup, I went to Sprouts and picked up a fresh bakery loaf. Long story short, that was a great call, and we ended up with three-quarters of that box mix bread leftover. I sent our friends home with a quarter of it and kept half of it wrapped in cling film on the hutch for three days before wondering if maybe it was time to throw it out.
We Don’t Throw Away Stale Bread
Oh ho, but here in the Elle Jay home, we’re slowly but surely attempting new and different ways to achieve better sustainability (we’re still working on the plastic wrap thing. We just use it less often now).
So, what do we do with stale bread, everyone? Make bread pudding! Or at least so I’ve gathered from a hundred episodes of Chopped. I’ve watched people make it enough times to know what’s up, but this was my first attempt.
Learning How to Make Bread Pudding and Custard Sauce
Of course, I also had to read a bunch of recipes to make sure my ratios would be right, and then a bunch more to find recipes using ingredients I had on hand… like, I never have heavy cream on hand.
So, the first thing here was learning how to make a custard. You’re pretty much going to be making two, so the first go-round is like practice. If you’ve ever made french toast, it’s very similar. Whisk the eggs until they’re a little frothy and there are no clumps of whites left unwhisked.
Then, add in the sugar and whisk again until the sugar seems close to dissolving. Here’s where the two types of custards will vary. For the pudding, you’ll simply whisk in the milk, vanilla, and salt; add in the bread cubes to soak. There you go. Easy!
But for the vanilla sauce, you’ll be warming the milk on the stove, tempering the eggs, and moving it all back to the heat to continue stirring until the custard thickens. You might be sore, but it’s worth it.
The Hard Part is Not Eating the Soda Bread First
So, in an effort to get this information to you before Saint Patrick’s Day, I’ve made two loaves of my Irish Soda Bread recipe. The intent for the second was this Irish soda bread pudding.
Throughout, I had planned on needing to make another loaf for the actual holiday. However, as crazy as life has been lately, I never communicated this information back to my husband.
I should also mention that between my daughter and I, we basically demolished three-quarters of a loaf all by ourselves yesterday. It was my breakfast, snack, and post-lunch dessert. She had it for breakfast, snack, dinner, and dessert.
That’s all to say that my husband, the ultimate soda bread lover, came downstairs expecting to cut into a fresh loaf for his breakfast. He even excitedly asked if he could take half the loaf into work to share with his colleagues.
And that’s how I disappointed the heck out of my poor man this morning. But I promise to make it up to him. I plan to make more bread for him closer to Saint Patty’s Day and send him into work tomorrow with this pudding.
Updating My Irish Soda Bread Pudding Recipe
When I did this before, I used cold 2% milk and eggs. The only changes I’m making this time are to bring these ingredients to room temperature, and I’ll use whole milk instead.
It may surprise you to learn that for once in my life, I do actually have heavy whipping cream in the fridge. Sure, I could use that to make my custard extra rich. However, the essence of this recipe is accessibility and ease. I want to give you a recipe you can do with what’s on hand.
It comes together relatively easily. Your forearms are sure to disagree. But energetic whisking aside, the ingredients are simple. You can definitely make this recipe.
Tips for Serving Your Pud
Serving up your Irish soda bread pudding is, like the recipe, uncomplicated. It’s baked in a casserole dish, and it cuts into slices very easily. A lovely clean-cut helping of this pudding, then, receives as much custard on top as you wish!
Now, if you’d like to get a little bit fancy, you could try pre-portioning it out into ramekins. For this, you’ll trim your baking time to 15 to 20 minutes instead. Make sure to butter your dishes really well, so they’ll come out nicely.
If you’re baking in a ramekin, you might choose to serve it by turning it out onto a nicer plate, and then drizzling the custard sauce over.
In any case, it’s best to serve the pudding warm. The custard sauce will be cool, and it proves a lovely temperature differentiation. Something I note in the recipe is that you can totally skip the sauce and scoop a little vanilla ice cream on top. As it melts over the pudding, you’ll achieve a similar effect, plus you’ll get ice cream.
Finally, you need a beverage.
What Do You Drink with Irish Soda Bread Pudding?
Alrighty, now it’s drinkies time. In the spirit of Erin, you may be inclined to shout, “GUINNESS!” But friends, stout beer is not exactly a great dessert pairing this time. Instead, you could opt for a lovely Irish coffee, a bit of Bailey’s, or just a nice cuppa tea.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Last Updated: March 17, 2021
Irish Soda Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Bread Pudding Ingredients
- 2 cups Irish Soda Bread cubed
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Vanilla Custard Ingredients
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 3 Tbsp pure cane sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread the cubed soda bread out on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes to really dry it out.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs together until frothy and all the whites are incorporated. Heartily whisk in the brown sugar until slightly dissolved (about 5 minutes). Whisk in the milk, vanilla, and salt.
- Add in the toasted bread cubes and stir them around so they're coated in custard. Let it sit for 20 minutes as you make your custard sauce.
- For the custard sauce, begin gently heating the milk on the stove over low heat.
- Whisk the egg in a small bowl until frothy and all incorporated. Beat in the sugar until pale yellow and slightly thickened (about 5 minutes).
- Then temper the eggs by slowly and gently pouring the hot milk into the eggs, whisking the whole time. Continue whisking until everything is fully combined. Then, pour the mixture back into the saucepan, continually whisking with a focus on keeping things from staying on the sides or bottom of the pan too long (no scrambled eggs!). Increase the heat to medium and continue whisking for 5 minutes, or until the custard thickens and any foam redistributes.
- Stir in the vanilla. Then pour the mixture through a metal sieve to catch any cooked egg bits. Lay a bit of plastic wrap over the top, pressing it down onto the surface to prevent a skin, and chill in the fridge while your pudding bakes.
- Butter a small casserole dish, and pour the soaked bread pudding mixture in.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
- To serve, place a slice of warm bread pudding on a plate and drizzle custard over top. You could, of course, skip the sauce, and add a scoop of ice cream instead.
- Save the leftover sauce, covered, in the fridge for up to a week and use on waffles, pancakes, or french toast!
The Best Irish Soda Bread Ever
