Cherry Bread Pudding from Brittany

Filled with clusters of cherries and topped with a fragrant cinnamon crumble, it is rich and satisfying with bursts of sweetness (and it makes great use of whichever leftover brioche, pain au lait or bread you might have on hand!) Bread Pudding truly is a simple, delicious comfort food.

The addition of cherries here brings another layer of brightness. I find this recipe a bit reminiscent of a cherry clafoutis, although it is not custardy but rather firm and dense.

The batter has no butter (which for a Brittany dessert is kind of surreal!) but instead includes ground almond to create that rich, satisfying consistency. This recipe comes together in just a few minutes and is perfect for a fancy breakfast or a comfort dessert after a meal.

You can enjoy it warm (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top), or at room temp. Just like a cherry clafoutis, it shouldn’t be removed from the pan and should instead be served (or eaten) by the spoonful (which I think, makes it even better). Cooking Notes:

• For baking with cherries in France, I like to use the bigarreaux, a hard-fleshed red cherry. And here in Canada, I like to use Bing sweet cherries. They’re sweet, hard-fleshed, colorful and great to bake with.
• The recipe calls for brioche slices or pain au lait, although I have already tried this with a classic loaf of bread (of which I simply removed the crust) and it worked perfectly. A brioche or pain au lait will give you a creamier texture while a classic bread crumb will give you a denser texture with eathier notes.
• Like in many recipes, I like to use unblanched ground almonds. But blanched ground almonds works too.
• Cherry-pitting, or not? In France, any traditional recipe including cherries, urges you to leave the cherries intact (un-pitted) for more flavor (and it is especially true for this one and for the Limousin-style cherry clafoutis). Cherry pits contain amygdaline, the same active chemical found in almond extract. During the baking process, amygdalin from the pits is released into the batter and gives the sought-after nutty notes, that French bakers love. Skipping the cherry-pitting certainly makes the preparation for this recipe way quicker and easier too. But sadly, I feel it also makes the eating part far less enjoyable… so I usually take the time to pit my cherries prior to including them in the batter. You can choose whichever option you prefer (with pitted or un-pitted cherries). If you opt to pit the cherries (like I usually do), slice the cherry in half, twist off one half and remove the pit from the other half with the tip of a pointed knife.

If you try this Cherry Bread Pudding from Brittany recipe let me know! Leave a comment or share a photo using #pardonyourfrench on Instagram.

Bon Appétit!