Bready winter comforts

On Wednesday evening, a friend served up some amazing bread pudding with a whiskey cream sauce and some of her homemade fruitcake, soaked liberally with rum. I'm sure the alcohol content in these foods had something to do with the warm and happy feelings that came with eating them, but bread pudding is just cuddly and comforting all on its own.

Leaving out dairy and egg doesn't detract from the delight in eating bread pudding. Here's the vegan bread pudding recipe I've revised from its original creation last winter/early spring.

Vegan Bread Pudding
serves at least 8

8 cups day-old whole wheat vegan bread chunks
4 oz. dried cherries
4 oz dried plums (prunes), chopped
2 oz raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
4 c almond milk
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer whisked with 2 Tbsp water
1/4 c plus 1 Tbsp demerara sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together bread chunks and fruit in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix liquids, sugar and spices. Pour the liquid over bread and let it sit 10 minutes. Put the pudding mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake about 30 minutes until golden brown.

This pudding is equally good hot or cold, as a main/side dish or as dessert or even for breakfast. It can be frozen after baking and reheated in the oven straight out of the freezer.