I’ve been wanting to do this Gluten Free Bread Pudding recipe for such a long time now but couldn’t find the handwritten recipe that my Nanny wrote out for me. I’d seen other recipes on blogs and Facebook threads but was adamant that it had to be Nanny’s recipe. I told my mum recently and she turned up this week with the recipe written in my Grandad’s handwriting. Nanny’s not been with us for a few years now but Grandad is still going strong at 93 years of age and he’s an inspiration!
Nanny’s recipe was not gluten free but I knew I could make it work. The suet I used was my own home made suet (simply rub lard and gluten free flour into breadcrumbs!) for the quantities to make this click here for my Gluten Free Dumpling made with homemade Suet.
Can you make this Bread Pudding vegan too?
Yes you can, I’ve made it using dairy and egg free bread (both gluten free and normal as my daughter Beth is not keen on cooked dried fruit!) I always opt for the flax seed egg substitute for eggs as they act as a good binding agent. If you can get hold of some Psyllium Husk then I thoroughly recommend using a teaspoon of that too to add that extra gluey consistency, especially in bread and bread-style cake baking.
How to make a flax egg
to make 1 flax egg you need the following ingredients:
– 1tbsp ground flax seed
– 3tbsp water
– 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking)
Simply add all ingredients to a glass and stir before measuring out the other recipe ingredients, by the time you come to use your ‘egg’ mixture it will have thickened to a frog-spawn consistency (thicker if you added psyllium husk)
Then just add to your baking as you would an egg. For 2 eggs double the ingredients but note that recipes that require more than two eggs may fail due to lack of support in the structure.
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Different ways to serve my Gluten free Bread Pudding
I personally love to have my Bread Pudding cut into huge chunky squares, cold with a hot cup of tea. However, this is traditionally called a pudding so I can also vouch for how delicious it is with lashings of hot custard. As I cannot tolerate dairy I always make my own custard. Soya versions are lovely cold but I find that as soon as you heat them up they loose their thickness and turn into more of a thick custardy cream. This is why I always have a trusty tub of Birds Custard Powder in the cupboard and simply follow the instructions but sub the milk with soya milk. I find it works just fine and the rest of the family can’t tell the difference.
If you want to really pile on the extra fatty deliciousness you could also slice this and slather with butter (or in my case Pure sunflower spread). Blimey I’m craving this now, the woes of being a foodie blogger…off to the kitchen I go!
Other recipe ideas that could use my Gluten Free Suet
I’ve said above that I make my own Gluten Free Suet and the recipe can be found on my Gluten Free Dumplings post. I’ve also got a Beef Stew recipe to accompany the dumplings. But I think my next venture has to be Jam Roly Poly, I mean, it would be rude not too. One last recipe I have that includes my Gluten Free Suet in my popular Clootie Dumpling; an old Scottish recipe that’s traditionally made around Hogmannay and Christmas
Traditional Gluten Free Bread Pudding Recipe
If you make it and like the recipe I would be eternally grateful if you popped back and commented leaving a star rating as this will tell search engines that this recipe is worth checking out and others will get to find it in searches.
Traditional Gluten Free Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 400 g loaf of gluten free bread I have also used gluten free Brioche but you’d need to find a dairy free version.
- 350 g dried mixed fruit
- 100 g dark brown sugar
- 100 g gluten free vegetable suet
- 2 egg(s) or flax seed eggs, see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4
- Break the bread into pieces in a large bowl and cover with water.
- Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
- At the same time soak your fruit in boiling water to make it plump up and add extra moisture into the final bake.
- Once the bread has soaked, drain over a sink and squash out as much water as possible.
- To do this I tip the bread onto a clean teatowel and gather corners up. Twist the teatowel corners to squeeze as much water out of the soaked bread as possible. Get rid of any pent up aggression!
- Tip the bread back into your large bowl and using your hands break into breadcrumbs (with GF bread this is really easy to do)
- Drain the soaked fruit and add this and the sugar, gluten free suet and eggs (or flax seed eggs) to the bowl and get your hands into the mixture, squeezing the ingredients together until thoroughly combined, this is messy…but fun!
- Tip mixture into a prepared oiled and lines 20x20cm square tin.
- Smooth down and sprinkle granulated or demerera sugar over the top.
- Pop in the oven for 1.5 hours
- Allow to cool and cut into 9 squares
Notes
– 1tbsp ground flax seed
– 3tbsp water
– 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking) simply add all ingredients to a glass and stir before measuring out the other recipe ingredients, by the time you come to use your ‘egg’ mixture it will have thickened to a frog-spawn consistency (thicker if you added psyllium husk) Then just add to your baking as you would an egg. For 2 eggs double the ingredients but note that recipes that require more than two eggs may fail due to lack of support in the structure.
Nutrition
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Can I ask as making this for a friend as a surprise which vegetable suet should I use as worried about using wrong one 😬
So sorry for the late reply David, if you want to use a shop bought one and are in the UK then Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrison do a packet of vegetable suet that is gluten free with no may contains (they all come in a small plastic packet) If, on the other hand you want to make your own gluten free suet you could use my GF suet recipe Homemade Gluten Free Suet Recipe Hope I wasn’t too late and good luck x
Delicious. Can I freeze the left overs?
Thank you
Denise😊
Thank you for commenting Denise. I have not tried myself but knowing this bake well I’d say yes. What I would recommend is cutting into the size portions you desire and wrapping in foil then popping each parcel into some Tupperware. To defrost, leave on the side over night and when you wish to eat it pop the potion into the oven (still in its little foil parcel) for 10mins. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family have over the decades x
The best comfort food you could ever imagine! Love bread pudding.
Absolutely 100% Beth and when it has emotional attachments to it too it makes it even lovelier.
This looks awesome! Thanks for sharing and commenting on my post….
You are very welcome indeed, I’ve bookmarked your website for inspiration at a later date xx
When do I add eggs as doesn’t mention them please
Thank you for commenting Della and pointing this error out to me, I love the baking bit, recipe development and eating ..but when it comes to writing it all down I can get carried away and miss things! I have updated the recipe now with the addition of when to add the eggs. Let me know if you make it x
I’ve really missed bread pudding since being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in September 2015. When I saw the recipe I wasn’t hopeful as I haven’t yet found one that was simple to follow. I can cook very well but I’m not the greatest of bakers and your recipe has given me a lot of hope that ill be eating bread pudding very soon, Thank you.
Oh Scott, I’m thrilled you’ve found me in that case….90% of my recipes are simple, I can’t stand being faced with a recipe that takes a degree to understand and a loan to buy the ingredients. Let me know what you think, fingers crossed you love it as much as we do.
Well, this is not only gluten free but it is a gorgeous, classic bread pudding! One of my fave desserts! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday this week!
Mollie
Yum! I have a soft spot for bread pudding!
Wow, this looks so good!
I’m not sure what suet is, or whether we get it here in Bangalore (India) where I live. I’d love to try this out some time. :) Is there anything else I can use in place of suet?
Hello there, thank you for commenting. I guess you could use vegetable fat in place of the suet but you’d need to add a bit of flour to absorb some of the fat. Suet is basically animal or vegetable fat that’s been mixed with flour or cornflour and minced to make a more stable fat – hope that makes sense? Good luck with the baking.