Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Bread Pudding

Gingerbread bread pudding in a ramekin topped with ice cream and toffee sauce.

5 from 1 vote

Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Bread Pudding

Moist, flavorful and downright scrumptious, this Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Bread Pudding has all the classic flavors of Christmas with creamy custard textureu and a sticky-sweet toffee twist to finish it off.

Prep Time45

Cook Time1 45

Total Time2 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 771kcal

Author: Jocelyn Delk Adams

Ingredients

For the Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
⅛ tsp ground cloves
½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ 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

For the Custard

1 ½ cups half and half
⅓ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the Sticky Toffee Sauce

½ cup butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup light brown sugar

Instructions

For the Gingerbread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place a rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 9 inch (23 cm) round or square cake pan with 2 inch (5 cm) sides.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 1-2 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 the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. After 10 minutes invert the cake onto a plate and continue to let it cool until slightly warm/room temperature. Cut the gingerbread cake into tiny squares.
Place squares on 2 large baking sheets and bake in the oven for an additional 10 minutes to dry out a bit. Fill ramekins with gingerbread squares. Makes about 6-8 ramekins.

For the Custard (makes 2 cups of custard)

Pour half & half, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla into a bowl and whisk until well mixed. Spray each ramekin with a non-stick spray. If using 8 ramekins, pour 1/4 cup of custard over gingerbread cake in each ramekin. If using 6 ramekins pour ⅓ cup of custard over gingerbread cake. Then divide any remaining custard mixture equally between ramekins.
Place the ramekins in a large baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes at 325 degrees until the custard is completely set.

For the Sticky Toffee Sauce

Start to melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once it’s almost completely melted, add the brown sugar, then whisk until combined. Now add the heavy cream and mix well. Constantly stir until mixture begins to slightly boil. Turn the heat down a bit and continue to cook until it darkens and thickens a bit. This won’t take longer than ~5 minutes. Pour over warm bread pudding and serve.

Notes

Molasses Tip. It's so sticky and it's notorious for sticking to the measuring cup when you're adding it to the bowl. The trick to make it easier is to first spray the cup with a non stick vegetable spray and then measure the molasses. It will slide right out!

Creamier Custard. If the custard portion of the bread pudding has minimized or completely disappeared before you’re ready to serve, revive it! Reserve a small portion of the custard or keep a bit of heavy cream on hand to drizzle over the top just before serving.

Drier Pudding. Bread pudding is usually made with day old bread. This allows the bread to stand up to the custard a bit resulting in a drier pudding or one with a sturdier structure. For similar results, make the cake the day before. Let it sit out overnight to stale up a bit. The stale cake will absorb more moisture.

Make Extra Sticky Toffee Sauce: Arguably the best part of this recipe so make a double batch for those late-night scoops of ice cream or just to eat by the spoonful.

Grease the Ramekins. Don’t forget to grease the sides and the bottom of the pan with butter before you begin! As the custard cooks, it will absolutely stick to the bottom and sides of the dish. Let’s just avoid that, shall we?

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