Ratios for a king-cake-based bread pudding?
March 16, 2020 10:25 AM Subscribe
How much egg and dairy should I add to 19 ounces of dried king cake chunks to make a sweet bread pudding?
I have 19 ounces (about 540 grams) of leftover king cake chunks that I would like to turn into bread pudding. I have been looking at recipes similar to this, but I haven't been able to find one that gives ratios by weight. My cake chunks were pre-dried and stored in the freezer, and I have no idea what percentage of a whole cake they might represent. Furthermore, since the cake is already sweet and there are even chunks of icing in the bag, I wasn't planning to add any extra sugar, so I'm having trouble extrapolating from "regular" bread pudding recipes too.
Any thoughts? I know bread pudding probably isn't as fiddly of a recipe as most baking, but I'm not a skilled baker and don't have a handle on the instincts for it. So even if the answer is "put milk and eggs in it until it looks right," some tips on how to watch for the right consistency would be welcome.
I have 19 ounces (about 540 grams) of leftover king cake chunks that I would like to turn into bread pudding. I have been looking at recipes similar to this, but I haven't been able to find one that gives ratios by weight. My cake chunks were pre-dried and stored in the freezer, and I have no idea what percentage of a whole cake they might represent. Furthermore, since the cake is already sweet and there are even chunks of icing in the bag, I wasn't planning to add any extra sugar, so I'm having trouble extrapolating from "regular" bread pudding recipes too.
Any thoughts? I know bread pudding probably isn't as fiddly of a recipe as most baking, but I'm not a skilled baker and don't have a handle on the instincts for it. So even if the answer is "put milk and eggs in it until it looks right," some tips on how to watch for the right consistency would be welcome.
The ratio for custards, quiche, bread pudding liquid is for every egg add enough milk/half & half/cream to measure 1/2 cup.
A quiche in a standard pie crust is three or four eggs with enough liquid to raise to 1 1/2 cups or 2 cups total. I use a glass liquid measuring cup, crack the eggs into it, then add the liquid 'til the total measure is reached.
I think a good start for your king cake would be 3 eggs, liquid to 1 1/2 cups total. Add that to the cake chucks and see if you need more to really soak it/almost cover it. If you need more, then add more to the same ratio. One egg become 1/2 c total filling.
The question is, do you need more sugar in the custard? Probably but my guess would be not much, 1/4 cup or so. (How sweet is king cake?) You might also add some freshly grated nutmeg and a little vanilla extract or dark rum.
I don't know if this helps but I fake bread puddings all the time with this approach. Some are drier that others, some more custardy: all good.
BTW, I also fake a savory bread pudding, with stale bread, cheese, some garlic, salt and pepper. Same custard mixture by ratio. Great accompaniment for many roasted meats. A nice change from potatoes or noodles. If you've got the stale bread, use it.
posted by tmdonahue at 11:07 AM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
A quiche in a standard pie crust is three or four eggs with enough liquid to raise to 1 1/2 cups or 2 cups total. I use a glass liquid measuring cup, crack the eggs into it, then add the liquid 'til the total measure is reached.
I think a good start for your king cake would be 3 eggs, liquid to 1 1/2 cups total. Add that to the cake chucks and see if you need more to really soak it/almost cover it. If you need more, then add more to the same ratio. One egg become 1/2 c total filling.
The question is, do you need more sugar in the custard? Probably but my guess would be not much, 1/4 cup or so. (How sweet is king cake?) You might also add some freshly grated nutmeg and a little vanilla extract or dark rum.
I don't know if this helps but I fake bread puddings all the time with this approach. Some are drier that others, some more custardy: all good.
BTW, I also fake a savory bread pudding, with stale bread, cheese, some garlic, salt and pepper. Same custard mixture by ratio. Great accompaniment for many roasted meats. A nice change from potatoes or noodles. If you've got the stale bread, use it.
posted by tmdonahue at 11:07 AM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: How sweet is king cake?
Hmm... maybe about 50-70% of the way to "cinnamon roll" from "brioche"?
posted by slenderloris at 11:37 AM on March 16, 2020
Hmm... maybe about 50-70% of the way to "cinnamon roll" from "brioche"?
posted by slenderloris at 11:37 AM on March 16, 2020
I’d leave the extra sugar out. If it’s not sweet enough when it’s done, you can always add a sweet sauce like the hot buttered rum sauce in this recipe.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:27 PM on March 16, 2020
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:27 PM on March 16, 2020
(And the second pic in that recipe looks to be unbaked, so you can kind of see the amount of squooshiness you’re looking for in your liquid to “bread” ratio.)
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:29 PM on March 16, 2020
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:29 PM on March 16, 2020
You need sugar in the custard for chemical/structural reasons, or else you will get a denser more quiche texture.
Mary Berry has a recipe for a bread pudding with bread or brioche slices. The sugar is Mixed/layered in with the fruit and the Demerara goes on top.
100g melted butter
250g currents and sultanas or whatever dry fruit
75g caster sugar
Zest of a lemon
12 thin slices of bread
3 eggs
600 ml milk
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
That’s for a deep 7x9 pan so I would lay in your long cake bits and scale according to whatever pan size they fit in.
(Grease the pan, dip strips of cake in butter, layer in pan butter side down. Scatter fruit and sugar between layers. Top layer should be butter side up. Pour over eggs/milk whisked mixture, let rest for 1 hour -or longer in fridge-, preheat, sprinkle Demerara, bake 180C for 40-50min. )
posted by janell at 12:42 PM on March 16, 2020
Mary Berry has a recipe for a bread pudding with bread or brioche slices. The sugar is Mixed/layered in with the fruit and the Demerara goes on top.
100g melted butter
250g currents and sultanas or whatever dry fruit
75g caster sugar
Zest of a lemon
12 thin slices of bread
3 eggs
600 ml milk
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
That’s for a deep 7x9 pan so I would lay in your long cake bits and scale according to whatever pan size they fit in.
(Grease the pan, dip strips of cake in butter, layer in pan butter side down. Scatter fruit and sugar between layers. Top layer should be butter side up. Pour over eggs/milk whisked mixture, let rest for 1 hour -or longer in fridge-, preheat, sprinkle Demerara, bake 180C for 40-50min. )
posted by janell at 12:42 PM on March 16, 2020
In my recipes it calls for a quart of milk per 2 cups of bread crumbs/chunks and that is basically one to one ratio ounce per ounce.
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 11:32 PM on March 16, 2020
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 11:32 PM on March 16, 2020
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You can figure the last bit out by dampening one bit of cake and weighing it before and after.
posted by clew at 10:45 AM on March 16, 2020