Pineapple bread pudding
This traditional bread pudding recipe is elevated with charred pineapple and a vanilla rum sauce.
How to make pineapple bread pudding?
This is a take on a traditional bread pudding with rum sauce except we elevated it by adding a healthy glug of dark rum to the custard, a bit of vanilla and ginger and then topped the casserole with a creamy rum sauce.
Challah bread is sliced, buttered and baked. Tear the challah toast into pieces and place in a deep baking dish. Roast sugar-dusted fresh pineapple spears until charred and golden brown. Chop up the pineapple and toss in with the challah bread.
Make a custard with eggs, sugar, pineapple juice, milk, cream, ginger, vanilla and rum. Pour the custard over the bread mixture. cover and let rest at least an hour or two or overnight.
Bake until the custard is set. While the casserole is baking, make a rum sauce with sugar, butter, cream, ginger, a splash of pineapple juice and dark rum. See the recipe for the sauce HERE.
Ingredients in pineapple bread pudding:
- fresh pineapple
- eggs
- butter
- challah bread
- ground ginger, salt
- heavy cream
- milk
- sugar
- pineapple juice
- dark rum
- vanilla paste or extract
Tips for a great Bread Pudding:
- Do not use parchment when toasting the bread or roasting the pineapple. You want the ingredients to come into contact with the hot sheet pan for optimal browning.
- Using canned pineapple will not provide you with the same flavor as fresh roasted pineapple .
- Make certain your oven temps are correct for each stage of baking.
- You do not need to rest this bread pudding overnight, but the custard will be soaked up by the bread creating the most tender pudding.
- Instead of the vanilla rum sauce, you can top this recipe with caramel sauce, whipping cream, or a scoop of ice cream. Melted ice cream also makes a fantastic quick sauce. Give it a try in a pinch.
- Be certain to read this recipe through before beginning – take note of the RESTING time BEFORE and AFTER baking.
Common questions about this recipe:
The short answer is yes. Canned pineapple has a very high moisture content so getting it to char or brown while roasting is nearly impossible. It will just steam in the pan. A fresh pineapple, dusted with a bit of sugar will brown beautifully adding a deep flavor to the bread pudding.
Yes- substitute with more pineapple juice instead of the rum.
You can use brioche, pannettone or a hearty white bread if you cannot find a loaf of challah.
This recipe requires a resting time of 1-2 hours, so you may as well roast the pineapple while you are assembling the custard. Browning pineapple in the oven adds so much flavor.
Store in the fridge in a glass container up to four days. The sauce can be heated in the microwave once chilled. Re-Heat on high in 20 seconds intervals, stirring in between each interval. Do not re-heat in a plastic container.
I would serve this bread pudding recipe as a dessert.
Other recipes with pineapple to try:
- Buttery Baked Pineapple Gratin
- Retro Raspberry & Pineapple Layered Jell-O Salad
- Frozen Pineapple Daiquiri
- Snapper with Pineapple Mango Salsa
- 5-Spice Blackened Shrimp with Pineapple-Corn Salsa
Equipment and utensils needed for this bread pudding recipe:
Ingredients
- 5 TBSP unsalted butter melted and divided
- 1 TBSP granulated sugar
- 1 units large fresh pineapple skin removed and cored, cut into spears
- 4 units large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 TBSP ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- ⅓ cup dark rum
- ⅓ cup pineapple juice or nectar
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 12 slices challah bread- sliced thick from one loaf
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Melt 1 TBSP of unsalted butter, Brush the slices of challah bread with the melted butter. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Remove the challah toast from the oven. Cool and then tear into 2u0022 pieces. Set aside.
- Increase oven heat to 400 degrees. Place pineapple spears on the rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 TBSP of sugar. Roast for 20 minutes until golden brown and charred on the underside, Turn the pineapple to roast on the other side. for another 15 minutes. Remove the pineapple from the oven and cut into bites sizes pieces. Toss the pineapple and the juices from the pan with the challah toast. Place the toast and pineapple in a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the 1 cup of sugar. Add in the vanilla, ginger, salt, rum, pineapple juice, milk and heavy cream. Pour the custard mixture over challah and pineapple mixture. Top with remaining 4 TBSP of melted butter. Cover with plastic wrap tightly and chill the bread pudding for 1-2 hours or up to 8 hours-overnight.
To Bake:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the bread pudding from the fridge, Remove the plastic wrap and replace with foil. Let the bread pudding rest at room temp for 30 minutes.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes then remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the custard is set. The internal temp of the bread pudding should read 170 degrees.
- Let the bread pudding rest for 30 minutes on a wire rack prior to serving. Serve with the vanilla rum sauce on the side if desired.
