Old Fashioned Desserts with New Twists

I like old fashioned desserts like bread pudding and rice pudding. They are good and nutritious. In particular I love the vanilla sauce my Aunt used to make to put on the bread pudding.

Bread Pudding

bread pudding: Break apart 4 cups of bread. Grease a baking dish. Beat together 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp. of vanilla, ½ tsp. cinnamon, and ¼ tsp. of nutmeg. Add 4 tbsp. of melted butter and ½ cup of raisins. Add bread and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown.

vanilla sauce: mix ½ cup of sugar and 1 tbsp. of cornstarch. Add 1 cup of boiling water gradually, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes, remove from heat and add 1 tbsp. of butter and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Serve hot on pudding.

Rice Pudding

Cook 2/3 cup of white rice in 1 1/3 cups of water until it boils. Lower heat and cover cooking 10-15 minutes or until rice is done. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Beat 2 eggs in a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Stir in ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup of raisins, 2 cups of milk, ½ tsp. of vanilla and hot rice. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, 50- 60 minutes. May be served with whipped cream.

Brownie Pudding

Stir together ½ cup of flour, ¼ cup of sugar, 1 tbsp. of unsweetened cocoa powder, and ¾ tsp. of baking powder. Add ¼ cup of milk, 1 tbsp. of cooking oil, and ½ tsp. of vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add ¼ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, if desired. Place batter in a 1 quart casserole dish. Combine 1/3 of a cup of sugar and 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder, then gradually add ¾ cup of boiling water. Pour evenly over the previous batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Serve warm and this is even better with a scoop of ice cream on top.

Banana Bread