Pandoro Bread Pudding

I think bread pudding served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is probably my favourite comfort food. And yet until the last couple of years bread pudding was not something I ever had and now I feel that I may have missed out all those years. As a matter of fact the thought of a pudding made with bread really didn't do much for me but over the years I became curious about this concoction that I would hear others rave about so I thought that I would like to at least give it a try. I came across a recipe for Panettone Bread Pudding in the food section of the Globe and Mail newspaper a couple of years ago by Lucy Waverman, cookbook author, food writer for the Globe and Mail and cook extraordinaire who lives here in Toronto. Mmm I thought, panettone was right up my alley, being raised in an Italian family and having an uncle who owned an Italian bakery in Little Italy, who made panettone regularly, not just for Christmas, I was practically weened on it.

I was quite excited to try this recipe, after all panettone, studded with plump sweet raisins, and candied peel and flavoured with lemon peel and vanilla, is no regular bread. So using panettone and all these flavours that I was familiar with, instead of plain bread, suddenly made this sweet dish sound more appealing to me.


Putting it all together is simple enough. Panettone is cut into cubes and put into a large bowl, eggs are beaten with the cream and milk, salt and vanilla are added and poured over the bread and mixed until moistened. This is poured into a buttered baking dish and baked in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. In the oven it puffs up and the wonderful sweet scent fills the kitchen.

I can still remember when I first tasted this incredible bread pudding, I knew I was hooked for good. In the article Lucy Waverman described this as the best version she had made over the years and all I can say thank you for this wonderful recipe. I may have missed out all those years but now I can make up for it by making it whenever I can get my hands on panettone.


For this version I adapted her recipe but substituted Pandoro for the Panettone and added about half a cup of sultana and golden raisins. I can honestly say it is just as good.

Nowadays it seems you can only get panettone and pandoro at Christmas time so I buy a few boxes and since it has a long best before date I store them in my cold cellar just for making bread pudding.

Submitted to YeastSpotting.

Panettone Bread Pudding


Serve with softly whipped cream and marinated fruit salad.

1 panettone
6 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups milk
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

Cut panettone into 2-inch cubes and remove dark brown crusts. You will need about 10 cups. Place in a large bowl.

Whisk together eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar and vanilla.

Pour over panettone and toss to coat. Transfer panettone and custard to prepared baking dish, squishing the pieces around to absorb custard and to fill pan in an even layer.

Set aside for at least 45 minutes or wrap well and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Bake bread pudding for 35 to 40 minutes or until deep golden brown and puffed.

Cut into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 6 with leftovers.



Pandoro Bread Pudding

6 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups milk
2/3 of a Pandoro
½ cup of a mixture of sultana raisins and golden raisins.
1/3 to ½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Proceed as above.

When I made this I only used about 2/3 of the Pandoro because it was quite large. If you have a large crowd and want to use the entire pandoro you can increase the recipe by 1/3 to 1/2 and it should still work out.