Simple Raisin Bread Pudding

It's been a while since I have last posted a dessert recipe, so I figured I should go search the Internet for one. I found a really yummy looking and easy to make Raisin Bread Pudding recipe from allrecipes.com last weekend and I decided to try it out. It turned out to be another home run recipe, really simple and quick to whip up. Check it out!

The recipe called for 6 slices of moist white bread or rich egg bread. I decided to kick it up a notch and use some raisin cinnamon bread instead. Remember to let your bread sit out for a little if its too soft, we want the bread to be at least a day old. Even though the recipe said 6 pieces of bread, I used 8 pieces and found out that it was just right.

Cut up the bread into small pieces (remember to remove the crust) and place it all into an 8" square baking pan.

Next, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine over the bread. I used butter but I think margarine works too.

Then, sprinkle about 1/2 a cup of raisin over the bread. This is entirely optional. If you are not a fan of raisins, leave it out. It doesn't really matter.

Now, in a separate large bowl, combine 4 eggs with 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cups of sugar. Beat it until it is mixed well.

Add in about 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you like, you can also add in about 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Since I used cinnamon raisin bread instead of regular bread, I decided not to add any more additional cinnamon. If you are using regular bread, I would suggest that you add some to spice things up.

Once you have mixed everything up, pour the mixture over the bread.

Lightly push the bread down with a fork until the bread is fully soaked and covered with the egg mixture.

Place the baking pan in a 350F oven and allow it to bake for about 45 minutes. You will know that it's done when the top springs back lightly when you tap it.

Mmmm mmmm mmmm, the whole kitchen just smells so wonderful with the freshly baked bread pudding. Doesn't it look yummy? I really cannot believe that it's so easy to make and that it turned out to be so delicious. Allow it to cool down for a bit and you can either serve it with vanilla sauce or ice cream (we served it with french vanilla ice cream!).

Cheesy Pepperoni Ring

I found this simple yet yummy recipe not too long ago. It's perfect to serve up when you have friends over for the game, something to munch on when you watch TV or as snack when the kids come home from school. The best thing is, it's so easy and quick to make! Here's how you make it :D

You start off by rolling out a can of Pillsbury Crescent Creations onto your work area. You could also use the regular crescent dough, you just have to pinch all the seams together to make it into a single dough sheet.

Brush on some melted butter onto the dough sheet.

Sprinkle on some garlic salt, Italian seasoning and some shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Next, place some pepperoni slices on top of the cheese. You could replace the pepperoni slices with sausage, ham, chicken...pretty much anything that you like.

Carefully roll up the dough. Make sure you roll it up tight and there are not many air pockets. Also, make sure that you seal the ends of the roll. Then, set it aside.

Now, spray on some non stick cooking oil onto a baking sheet. Then, sprinkle on some corn meal. You do not need corn meal if you do not have it at hand. It just helps to further prevent the pepperoni ring from sticking to the baking sheet.

Take the roll from your work area and place it onto the baking sheet. Join the two ends together, forming it into a ring.

Then, brush on some melted butter. This will give it a nice golden brown color once it's baked.

Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and some shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Pop it in a 400F oven for about 20-30 minutes (baking time varies depending on oven) and it's done!

Mmm mmm mmmm, doesn't it look good? Check out the yummy Cheesy Pepperoni Ring, fresh out from the oven. Try it, I bet you will love this recipe!

First Attempt At Bread Making

Remember the post about us getting a good deal on a bread machine during the Black Friday Sale? Well yeah, we have been wanting to get one for the longest time. Not only can we now make breads with that, but we can use it to make buns, pastries, pasta, pizza dough...even jams! We couldn't wait to try out our new 'toy', so we immediately went out to get the ingredients and tried making our first loaf of bread that very night.

Since it's the first time either of us have tried making bread, we didn't have any good recipes to try out. So, we just tried the first recipe we saw in the tiny recipe book that came with the bread machine. It was for a 2lbs loaf of basic traditional white bread. It looked pretty easy, so here goes! Start off by pouring in 1 + 3/8 cups of warm water into the bread pan.

Then, add 2 tablespoons of butter that is at room temperature.

Next, measure out 4 cups of bread flour and add that into the bread pan.

After that, add in 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Once you have added the sugar, measure 2 tablespoons of dry milk and add that to the bread pan.

Lastly, add in 1+ 3/4 teaspoons of salt.

Now, use your finger and form a well in the middle of the flour.

Then, measure in 2 +1/4 teaspoons of yeast.

Now, we are ready to start the bread making process. Carefully snap on the bread pan into the bread maker.

Set the machine to 'basic' setting and the crust color to 'medium'. Make sure the timer is showing 3:00 hours and then, press 'START'. Now, just sit back and relax for 3 hours :P

This is how it looked like after 3 hours! The bread did rise but it didn't seem to rise enough for me.

Here it is. The first loaf of bread that we made on the bread machine. It wasn't really the greatest...it was kind of dense and had a rough texture. After trying out a few pieces, we decided to throw the whole loaf away...hehe. Over a space of a few weeks, we experimented on at least 6 different recipes and at last, we found the perfect one that made light and fluffy bread! I will share with you that recipe in the coming days!! :D