Cooking Class -Today's Lesson – Cake Bread Pudding

Every Wednesday, I have the pleasure of preparing dinner for a few local churches. Most Wednesdays, I am in the kitchen all day preparing dinner for nearly 150 people, and being on such a strict schedule of time and menus, it leaves me little time to experiment on my captive audience. However, today is different. I am only cooking for one church tonight which means I am feeding a small group of 45 (yes, I said “small”) which also means I can test some new ideas on my friends at Crawford Street United Methodist Church (they are good sports when it comes to my “testing”). Tonight’s menus is pretty simple; Rotel Chicken Spaghetti, Green Bean Casserole, Tossed Green Salad (mixed greens with bacon crumbles, shredded cheddar cheese, cheese croutons and ranch dressing), Parmesan Garlic French bread and… dessert? Not just any dessert but an undecided dessert, which is where my experimentation comes into play. Not really knowing what dessert I wanted to prepare, I did know that I wanted to get creative and try something new… or at least it would be new in my cookbook. So, I went to my freezer, opened the door and stood there thinking, hmm, what can I make? Then all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I spotted two cakes that I had made just the other day. You see, I made one too many spice cakes and pound cakes, so I froze one of each thinking I would serve them with another dinner… you know, just slice it put it on a pretty tray and call it day. But that wasn’t going to happen this time, for I had an idea. Ok, don’t shoot me when I say this, but I am not a “sweets” eater so to get creative in this department is usually a little challenging, however today I had no problem coming up with an idea for my cakes. Thinking about the ingredients of one of my families favorite dishes, I went to my recipe box and pulled out my mom’s recipe for good old-fashioned bread pudding and after looking at the called ingredients I knew that I could make a few substitutions without compromising the integrity of the dish and make something tasty and fun with these cakes. And guess what? It worked! And good, if I do say so myself.  Well, mother said it was good, so that is all the approval I need, right? So, you see, a little extra time in the kitchen, some yummy frozen leftovers, a little imagination and I am now the proud owner of a new “cake cobbler” recipe which I am thrilled to share with you all. Side note: Since I am trying this recipe on a large group of people, I have choosen to eliminate the chopped pecans due to possible allergies. Cake Bread Pudding Ingredients 6 cups of cake cut into cubes 1 cup of milk 2 cups of heavy cream 3 eggs 3/4 cups of sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup chopped pecans Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a baking dish. In a large mixing bowl, combine milk, cream, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla until mixed thoroughly. Add raisins and pecans and stir. Due to its delicacy, place the cubed cake in the pan and then pour the custard mixture over the cake. Gently stir. Bake until browned and custard is set, approximately 1 hour. ENJOY! PS…  best served over a big bowl of vanilla ice cream!]]]]> ]]>