Bread Pudding with Lemon Sauce

I love cookbooks.  I have received them as gifts and purchased them when I go shopping, or if there is a church fund raiser, or when I go on vacation.  My Mom buys many of them for me because she knows I love new recipes, and I just like to look through them.  This recipe for bread pudding was taken from Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book.  It was a gift to me in the late 1970's.  I looked it up on line to see when it was published.  I found it on line at Better Homes and Gardens web sight under " A Little Lore on America's No. 1 Cookbook".
Here is a little trivia from this sight.

Who knew that a cookbook born in the lean, difficult years of the Depression would turn out to become America's favorite cookbook?

In the foreword to the 1933 edition, an editor wrote about the new kind of homemaker for whom the cookbook was intended. She is quick to adopt the new, when it proves efficient; and ready to discard the old, when she finds something better.
That describes the vision of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book through all its editions: It changes as America changes. In fact, looking through past issues of the book is like surveying a history of America at the table from 1930 to the present:

• In the 1970s, inflation shrunk the home cook's purchasing power, and budget meals became common fare in the cookbook's pages. While many women returned to work to help ease the budget crunch, the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book called on convenient new appliances, including crockery cookers and microwave ovens, to help ease the time crunch.

My edition is the 1970's cookbook.

I hope you enjoy this recipe from the past.

Bread Pudding

I like to make bread pudding when I have left over bread that is going too stale to make 

a sandwich.  I did a little research on the origins of bread pudding and found that 

using stale bread is a primary use for making the dish.

The recipe I am using is very basic.  

I found this information on eHow.com about the history of bread pudding.

Bread pudding is a dish with very old roots. It evolved as a use for stale bread. Cooks from many cultures throughout history have been loathe to waste stale bread, so they invented many dishes, both savory and sweet, that utilized it. Today, bread pudding is still made, but its current forms tend to be far more luxurious than their humble origins. Modern bread puddings often utilize fresh, gourmet breads, such as brioche, and include expensive ingredients, such as vanilla beans, bourbon, gruyere cheese or pecans. Sweet bread puddings may also be served with a variety of sauce.

History

• Bread puddings date back centuries. For the vast majority of human history, most people could not afford to waste food, so a number of uses for stale bread were invented. In addition to bread pudding, cooks also used stale bread to make stuffing, thickeners and edible serving containers. Although the Romans did use eggs as binding agents in various recipes, custard was not invented until the Middle Ages, so early bread puddings were probably made simply from milk, stale bread, fat and perhaps a sweetener. Bread puddings were not only made by the Romans. Ancient versions of bread pudding include Om Ali, an Egyptian dessert made from bread, milk or cream, raisins and almonds; Eish es Serny, a Middle Eastern dish made from dried bread, sugar, honey syrup, rosewater and caramel; and Shahi Tukra, an Indian dish made from bread, ghee, saffron, sugar, rosewater and almonds.

In the 18th century, bread pudding gained a reputation as good food for sick people, probably because it was easy to digest. The primary use of bread pudding is to use up stale bread. Bread pudding is widely considered to be a "comfort food."

Read more: The History of Bread Pudding | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5402231_history-bread-pudding.html#ixzz21O1MHo3k

Ingredients:

• 2 slightly beaten eggs
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups 1-inch day-old bread cubes
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins

Assemble the ingredients.

Break 2 eggs into a bowl.

Slightly beat the eggs.

Add 2 1/4 cups milk to mixing bowl.

Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

Add 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon.

Add 1/4 tsp. salt.

Whisk all the ingredients together to combine.

Add 4 cups cubed day-old bread.
(The recipe calls for 2 cups bread cubes,
but I added 4 cups to make a firmer bread pudding.)
If you add 2 cups, the bread pudding will be more
like a custard.

Stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Add 1/2 cup raisins.

Stir everything together.

The stale bread will absorb the milk and eggs.

Prepare baking pan.
I used a non-stick 12-muffin pan.
(You could also pour mixture into into an 8x1 3/4 inch
round ovenware cake dish.)
If you use a dish, cook for 45 minutes.

An ice cream scoop works well to spoon
mixture into the muffin pan.

Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes
until knife inserted halfway in center comes out clean.

Warm from the oven.

I chose a lemon sauce to pour over the bread pudding.

I found this recipe on line.  It is Luby's Lemon Sauce from

Luby's 50th Anniversary cookbook.

Lemon Sauce

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 4 drops yellow food coloring

Assemble the ingredients.

In a small saucepan, add 3/4 cup sugar.

Slice 2 large lemons in half.
This will make 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice.

Squeeze the lemons into a measuring cup
until you get 1/2 cup fresh juice.

Add to saucepan.

Mix well.

Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Stir constantly.

In small bowl, add 2 tbsp. cornstarch for the
thickening agent.

Add 2 tablespoons water or
enough to dissolve the cornstarch.

Add 4 drops of yellow food coloring.

This makes a nice bright yellow thickener.

Add mixture to the saucepan.

Stir constantly until mixture thickens.

Serve over the pudding.

The sauce will turn an everyday dish into an elegant
dessert to serve your family and friends.

Enjoy!