Almojábana Bread Pudding. Esta receta también está disponible en Español.
Almojábanas are a type of bread made of cornmeal and fresh, white cheese. They are delicious straight out of the oven, for breakfast or as a snack. Look up my recipe for almojábanas here. There is however one downside to this little breadies. They loose their tastiness really fast. I admit that this doesn’t sound like the best promotion of almojábanas, but I have to be honest. Already in a couple of hours they tend to turn dry. Really dry. So dry that you will need to have a coffee or chocolate with it. The dryness does not have to do with the quality of the bread. Even the almojábanas from the best bakery turn stale in a couple of hours. That is why I like to make my own, instead of buying them at a panaderia. Although warming them up in the oven makes it a bit better, they won´t taste as delicous anymore.
So what to do…
Does that mean that you should not make them? On the contrary. This little cheesy breads are so addictive that it is unlikely that you will have many leftovers. But if you for some strange reason do end up with some spare and stale almojábanas, I have the perfect solution for you.
Almojábana Bread Pudding
I must admit I like my bread fresh. But stale bread makes me just as happy because that means French Toast or Bread Pudding!
Transforming almojábanas into Almojábana Bread Pudding
This recipe for Almojábana Bread Pudding is easy to make. It only requires 6 ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry. Except the leftover almojábanas, you need milk or chocolate (Colombian chocolate milk), butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and vanille extract. Mix, bake in the oven, and serve it just like this, or top with some cream and fresh fruit. That is it. And you will have transformed a regular almojábana in a easy dessert or festive breakfast.
Looking for other breakfast recipes? Click here!
With or without chocolate milk….
So the most difficult thing with this recipe is making an important choice. To make or not to make with chocolate milk. The first time I made this bread pudding I also had leftover chocolate milk. Mind you, this was Colombian style fresh chocolate milk, called chocolate, which tends to be more liquid and less thick than storebought chocolate milk in many countries. I decided to give it a go because why not and almojabánas are often eaten with chocolate so what could go wrong. The combination is indeed heavenly. Because of the custardy liquid, with the taste of chocolate, the almojábanas turn into a addictive comfort food. Soft, sweet, and moist. But with normal milk you will absolutely get the same result. If you want to add more flavor, adding some cinnamon is good option.
Do you love Colombian food? Find inspiration for vegetarian recipes here!
Almojábana Bread Pudding
Equipment
- Smaller size oven dish (depending on how many almojábanas you use)
Ingredients
- 6 leftover almojábanas see blogpost for almojábana recipe
- 200 ml Colombian style chocolate milk OR regular milk
- 1 tbsp butter, plus some more for greasing oven dish
- 1/2 tsp vanille extract
- 50 gram white sugar, plus some extra for sprinkling
- 2 eggs, whisked
- salt
Optional to serve with
- cream
- fresh fruit like blueberries or strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit)
- Grease oven dish with some butter. Tear almojábanas in bite size pieces and place them in the oven dish
- Warm up in a sauce pan (chocolate) milk, together with butter, salt, vanille extract and sugar, until butter is melted. Let cool
- When cooled down, mix in whisked eggs. Pour mixture over almojábanas in oven dish. Sprinkle with sugar.
- To create a thicker custard, let the almojábana-custard mixture set for about 30 minutes. You can omit this step, the pudding will then remain a bit more liquid
- Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) until golden at the top and wobbly on the inside
- Serve warm as it is, or add cream and fresh fruit
Notes
- I used 6 almojábanas and a small oven dish (15 x 15 cm, 5 cm deep). Depending on the amount of leftovers or people you want to eat this dish with, you can adjust the amount of other ingredients.
- Almojábanas have an insane capacity to absorb liquid. Also in this case it works best to eat the pudding at once and while warm. It does not keep well in the fridge.
- The step to let the pudding set is to make the custard a bit thicker. If you omit this step, or shorten the time, it could be that the pudding contains some liquid after cooking, which is not necesarily a problem.
