Vegan Bread Pudding

Personally I don't think i ever tasted bread pudding, well perhaps i did when i was much younger at some buffet dinner but i really can't recall the taste or even the texture. Therefore when i made this vegan bread pudding, i brought some over to my dearest friend so that i can get some feedback , if this is the right texture or even taste.

From what my mom told me, the non vegan version has eggs, butter and milk as part of the ingredients and also some served it with some syrup , perhaps maple or some sweet syrup or even cream, which i'm not too sure of. I read that some baked it in a water bath, but my version is just like how you would normally bake anything.

INGREDIENTS
* 3 cups soy milk
* 3/4 cups brown sugar
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1 cup golden raisins
* 4 cups day old bread (cubed)
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except the bread and stir well.
2) Arrange the cubed bread in the pan and pour the soy mixture on it.
3) Let the bread and soy milk mixture sit for bout 20-30mins, so that the bread will be even soaked.
4) Bake in a preheated oven of 180 degree C for bout 30mins.

Note:
Instead of mixing the raisins together in the soy milk mixture, i scattered it around the cubed bread before pouring the soy mixture over it. If you like raisins all over , u can even layer your bread and raisins alternatively, which i did. I also omitted the nuts for i don't have any at that time.

I baked it for 30mins like what the recipe suggested but it turn out too soggy and wet for me , therefore i further bake for bout 25-30mins. I let the pudding sit for almost 2-3 hours before i tasted it. The texture turns out great after a few hours of sitting and not when its freshly out from the oven. For those who likes a thicker pudding, add more layers. Mine was only 2 layers of thick cubed bread compressed into a pretty decent thickness after a few hours of sitting at room temp.

Non-Dairy Eggless Brownies

For those who has been following my blog, I'm really sorry that i took so long to update. I've been pretty busy and due to that i've hardly had any spare time to experiment. But i'm definitely sure that this will be a good post for those chocolate lovers out there!

My dear friend, Denny, taught me a lot about food, especially those with special diets. With all that knowledge, i'm definitely putting it on good use and i'm slowly learning on how to cater for those who doesn't consume certain food/raw materials. My uncle for instance, he's lactose intolerant therefore there's quite a bit of food/desserts that he has to forgo, which is a pity cuz i totally know and understand how it feels to not be able to eat what your heart desires!

So for those lactose intolerant/egg-free lifetstyle people out there, this is definitely a treat you can whip up at home!

INGREDIENTS
* 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 vegan margarine
* 2/3 cup cocoa powder
* 2 cups brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 1/1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Method:
1) Combine 1/3 cup of flour with 1 cup water and cook on medium heat until thick. Set aside to cool.
2) In a new saucepan, melt the margarine and stir in the cocoa powder.
3) Sift together the remaining flour along with baking powder.
4) Beat sugar, salt & vanilla into the flour mixture. Then add the melt margarine/ cocoa mixture into the flour mixture.
5) Add the above mixture to the sifted flour, baking powder mixture.
6) Bake for about 25mins in a preheated oven of 18o degree C.

Note:

For those who wants a more chocolatey bite, prepare just enough chocolate ganache and pour over the brownies when it has cooled down and voila! your perfect piece of chocolatey dessert!

I've replaced the cocoa powder with chocolate powder for a more chocolatey touch to it. Chocolate powder is a little bit more expensive as compared to cocoa powder but its definitely my preferred ingredient in anything chocolate!