The epitome of the comforting fall dessert, this pumpkin bread pudding is made with soft and tender Brioche bread. Pumpkin pie and bread pudding came together here to create one luscious dessert. To take this comforting dessert to the next level, it’s topped with an easy Butter Rum Sauce and ice cream.
PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING
My son tried something new this week! It’s too bad it wasn’t broccoli but “yay” for trying new things. He finally tried bread pudding.
I’ve been making bread pudding for years and he had not tried one until this week. Now, I think I’ve created a bread pudding monster because he realized that it’s a dessert made out of bread, flavored with his favorite pumpkin, and topped with sauce and ice cream. He’s in love for sure.
In the past, he would always steal bread pieces while I left it out to get stale. Because of him, I started putting the bread tray up high so he can’t get it. Between him and my husband, I would always end up loosing half the bread pieces before it even gets stale for the bread pudding.
I don’t tell them that I’m making bread pudding now, I just cut the bread and hide it somewhere high.
When I was making this brioche bread pudding last week, little man was circling me like a little shark, looking for a piece of bread to steal. I told him that he had to trust me that I will make something special and delicious with it, he would just have to wait until tomorrow to have some. Surprisingly, he agreed!
The next day, he saw me prepare the pumpkin pie filling for the bread pudding was said, “Oooo, it’s pumpkin dessert!” I think that peaked his interest the most. But, since the bread pudding takes a little less than an hour to bake, he kind of forgot and went off to play.
He came back (I assume to check up on me) in an hour and saw me plating the pumpkin pudding to take pictures.
“Oh, mommy, what’s that?!”
“That is Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding, honey. You can have some if you want but you know that I have to take pictures real quick.”
He said nothing, just walked away. I assumed that he didn’t want to try it like so many things he doesn’t want to try.
After about 10 minutes of taking pictures, I come back to the kitchen with the plate and he is sitting at the table with a fork in his hand.
“Can I have the bread pudding now?”
I laughed so hard, I had tears in my eyes!
He polished off the whole plate in 5 minutes and even licked the plate after he was done. I guess that means it’s a hit!
TIPS FOR MAKING BREAD PUDDING:
When making bread pudding, you want to start with stale bread. Start prepping the bread a day before you will be making bread pudding. Just cup bread into small, about 1/2 inch, cubes and spread the pieces evenly in a large baking sheet and just let them dry for about 24 hours.
Once the bread is stale, it only takes about 1 minutes to prep the bread pudding. Transfer bread pieces into a greased 9×13 baking dish and whisk your filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then, pour the egg mixture over the bread, evenly.
Press on the bread all over to soak it with egg minutes and bake.
One problem that my bread pudding often faces is the top few pieces of bread getting burned while the inside is still baking. That is easily remedied by placing a sheet of foil over the top once the bread start to get dark brown on the top. DON’T cover tightly or tuck the edges of foil over the pan, just place the sheet of foil over top and pat it down. This will help keep the top of your bread from burning.
HERE ARE SOME MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES:
Creme Brulee Pumpkin Cheesecake
Halloween Pumpkin Cookies with Pumpkin Frosting
Easy Pumpkin Caramel Pull Apart Bread
A FEW OTHER DESSERTS YOU WILL LIKE:
Easy Pumpkin Pie Cake – by The Food Charlatan
Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecake – by Inside BruCrew Life
Pumpkin Coffee Cake – by OMG Chocolate Desserts
Pumpkin Cream Pie Trifle – by Julie’s Eats and Treats
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Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Bread Pudding:
- 22 oz Brioche bread
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice extract
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Butter rum sauce:
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup spice rum
Instructions
24 hours before making bread pudding:
- Cut bread into ½ inch cubes and spread it out on a large baking sheet. Leave it out to get stale for about a day.
Bread Pudding:
- Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
- Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, evaporated milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice extract, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Whisk until all smooth and combined evenly.
- Pour pumpkin mixture over the Brioche bread cubes evenly, all over. Press down all over the bread so that it all gets soaked.
- Bake bread pudding for 45-50 minutes.
(If the top is browning too fast, you can cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil half way through or so.)
Sauce:
- Heat a cooking pan over medium heat and melt butter. Add sugar and cinnamon, stir well. Add spiced rum and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring slowly. Take off heat until ready to serve. Pour some sauce over bread pudding slices while serving.
(If not using all the sauce at once, you can keep it in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container. Reheat and stir before using again.)
Notes
Nutrition
Sanay says
Is the spice rum alcoholic (liquor store) or an extract found in regular store? Thanks!
LyubaB says
Hi Sanay,
Yes, spiced rum is alcohol that you can find in your local liquor store.
Candy says
Is there no sugar added intentionally? I just made the bread pudding but not the rum sauce and it turned out ok but it really needs some sweetness. It didn’t even dawn on me when I was preparing it that there was no sugar listed.
Alice says
I added 3/4c of sugar to the pumpkin mix and baked the bread pudding at 350 for 48 minutes. Everyone really enjoyed it.
lyuba says
Oh no, that was absolutely not intentional. I’m so sorry and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will fix it right away.
Thank you, Candy!
Thank you, Alice!!
Melissa says
Did you make your own spiced rum for the sauce or can you purchase it from a liquor store? What kind did you use?
lyuba says
Hi Melissa!
I definitely got it at the store 🙂 It’s very common, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it.
Joanne Maestri says
Where can I find pumpkin pie extract? Or is all around and I’ve just never looked?
lyuba says
Hi Joanne!
Pumpkin pie extract is usually available in the baking section of the grocery store, where they have vanilla and other extract. I’ve seen it at WalMart but it might be seasonal.
If you can’t find it, you can use extra pumpkin pie spice.
marc bergeron says
Wow… this is going to be my fall show-off dessert… fantastic idea!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Marc! I hope you like it 🙂