Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Bread Pudding

Confession time: I have never eaten gingerbread before.  And I've definitely never baked it before.  Growing up, whenever I would see gingerbread cookies and those gorgeous gingerbread houses, I would be so mesmerized by the beauty of them that I would never eat them!  Strange right? 

Well this year has been all about trying new things, especially with my baking, so I thought it was time to try some type of gingerbread inspired recipe.  Bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food, and I thought making it with gingerbread would be a lovely alternative for the holiday season.  

Since I've never made bread pudding either (I'm full of confessions today), I grabbed the gingerbread cake recipe from joyofbaking.com.  That was a smart decision indeed. My mom, who is not a fan of gingerbread, really enjoyed it.  She sampled a few bites fresh out of the oven before I covered it in creamy dreamy custard, baked it to sheer bliss and smothered it with heavenly sticky toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream.  This is the perfect recipe for me to share with Shine Supper Club.

Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Bread Pudding

Ingredients
For the Cake- Slightly adapted from joyofbaking.com

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup unsulphured molasses (To prevent the molasses from sticking to the measuring cup, first spray the cup with a non stick vegetable spray.)

1 cup  milk (I used coconut milk)

For the Custard

1-1/2 cups half &half

1/3 cup sugar

4 eggs

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

For the Sticky Toffee Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup brown sugar

 

Directions

For the Gingerbread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Butter and flour a 9 inch (23 cm) round or square cake pan with 2 inch (5 cm) sides. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  In bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the molasses and beat to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients and milk, alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Beat just until incorporated.   

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.  Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan. Allow the cake to cool and cut the gingerbread into tiny squares.  

Place squares on baking sheet and bake in oven for additional 10 minutes to dry out a bit.  Fill ramekins with gingerbread cubes.  Makes about 6-8 ramekins.

For the Custard
Pour half & half, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla into bowl and whisk until well mixed.  Pour 1/4 cup of custard over gingerbread cake in each ramekin.  

Place the ramekins in a large baking pan and bake for 40-50 minutes at 325 degrees until the custard is completely set.  

For the Sticky Toffee Sauce
Combine butter, heavy cream and sugar in saucepan over medium low heat.  Constantly stir until mixture begins to boil.  Turn heat down a bit and continue to boil until it darkens and thickens a bit.  Pour over warm bread pudding and serve.