3.1.16
March has begun and one can only hope spring is right around the corner!! Bright fruits and flowers blooming and sunshine that actually warms you up. It means picnic’s in the park and drinking outside is only weeks away. I cannot wait to create things with berries, to show off some new items in my wardrobe, and make some refreshing cocktails. Let’s take the plunge into spring together….soon.
Last week I made a cake for my husband, and as I mentioned there was no party, no crazy get together where everyone dived in and ate the cake I made for the occasion. Instead, I made a full sized two layer cake for only two of us. Clearly not the wisest decision I’ve made. So we had a few slices, and after a couple of days it’s starting to go stale, especially the pieces exposed (despite being tightly wrapped and placed in the fridge). It would make me so sad to just toss the rest of this cake away. So I started to look up how to repurpose a cake. Something I never thought I’d type into Google.
The idea from Craftsy came up about using it for a bread pudding. So that’s what I did. I made a bread pudding out of cake and it is just as good (maybe even better?) than the original cake I made! It takes no time to prepare, so you don’t have a lot of time to mourn the beautiful cake you’re sawing into. It can be served warm with ice cream or eaten cold for breakfast. A resourceful solution so you’ll never have to fear wasting cake!
For the Bread Pudding
For the Glaze
I was really nervous about this because the mixture pre baked was VERY liquid-y. But that all turned out fine once it was baked. This bread pudding is moist and full of flavor because you already made/bought a delicious cake to begin with!
Even the preglazed dessert looked great, so if you’re worried about it being too sweet, feel free to leave the glaze off.
This is something that will keep for a few days easy. So after that special occasion you made that cake for is over? Make it the cake that keeps on giving and surprise everyone with the best made from scraps dessert there is!
I feel like if you did this with chocolate cake, and drizzled raspberry compote over top, you may win everything. All of it. Life.
Leftover Cake Bread Pudding
Ingredients
For the Bread Pudding
- 5 cups + 1 cup of cake (divided), cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 2 cups of coconut milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp almond extract
For the Glaze
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- coconut flakes for garnish, if desired
Instructions
For the Bread Pudding
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray
- Place 5 cups of your cubed cake into a large bowl, set aside
- Beat eggs in a medium sized bowl, set aside
- In a medium sauce pan, heat your milk and butter on low to medium heat until the edges begin to bubble, butter is melted and milk is about to boil
- Slowly pour hot milk into beaten eggs whisking constantly as to not scramble your eggs
- Continue to whisk until smooth and add salt, almond extract, and cinnamon, whisk together
- Pour milk mixture over cake, then sugar, and gently toss with a spatula or spoon, cake may break apart a little or get very mushy, don’t be scared
- Pour cake mixture into 9 x 13 pan, spread out evenly with spatula
- Take reserved 1 cup of cubed cake and place throughout mixture, especially where is looks like more liquid than cake
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until edges begin to slightly pull away from pan and top is golden brown
- Allow to cool slightly before topping with glaze
For the Glaze
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, salt and cornstarch, then pour in milk and whisk to remove lumps
- On medium heat bring to a boil, and whisk constantly for 1 minute, until mixture thickens
- Remove from heat, pour over bread pudding and sprinkle with coconut flakes, or garnish of your choosing
- Store remaining in refrigerator sealed or tightly wrapped
P.S.
*Sub out regular milk for coconut milk in this recipe no problem, I had coconut milk leftover from making the cake and I wanted to use it up
*You may also use vanilla extract instead of almond, but I would up the amount to 2 tsp. Almond extract is very strong, and I also ran out of vanilla and forgot to buy more
Adapted from Craftsy
I made this with a slightly overbaked chocolate cake I refused to serve to anyone. I used regular milk and added extra cinnamon. I also made a dutch cocoa powdered sugar glaze, also with a little cinnamon. Let’s just say I’m going to overbake chocolate cake more often just so that I can make this.
Just made this with leftover chocolate cake with buttercream icing. Added 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, a 1/2 tsp of ground red chili powder, and vanilla. Turned my dry leftover cake into a delicious “Mexican hot chocolate” bread pudding. Thanks!
I baked an old-fashioned gingerbread cake yesterday and left it too long in the oven. Dry and really dense ginger & molasses taste. Your recipe seemed like the perfect save. Am planning a lemon drizzle-glaze. In the oven right now!
Hi Ashley,
What can I substitute the butter with and in what quantities ? I need a vegan version.
I added coconut flakes and bit of pinapple juice .. milk was coconut milk . Extract was 50/50 coconut and vanilla ti I cinnamon tiny nutmeg…, yeah I threw in a few pinapple chunks… was a little wet so added to kings Hawaiian rolls.. and some crumbled up cheap Mexican plain cookies on one the other on bottom.
My overcooked pinapple cake muffins were dry.
Lilikoi / passion fruit rehydrated and made a syrup glaze to drizzle over frosting glaze. Glanced at recipe but did not have 5 cups of cake…
Turned out yummy.
I know its a bread pudding but is it very “wet” when its done? I don’t like a soggy bread pudding and I cant tell from your pictures if its wet.
Hi Ash
My grandma used to make this
To die for coconut cake
So I google coconut cake start dropping ingredients into mixing bowl and it says
Coconut essence…. That’s not a coconut cake
So I put in coconut and it’s as dry as a rats ….
Will give this a whirl
Sounds good…. THANKYOU 🙏🙏
this was so delicious!!! Thank you for this recipe! I subbed out the almond extract for vanilla as suggested and I loved it so much!!
My baked goods were saved! I made very bland/dry scones, and I couldn’t bear to toss them. This helped a ton.
Admittedly, I had to adjust recipe due to my mistakes:
Heated coconut milk to infuse with tea- which reduced liquid volume by half. No other milk on hand, so I blended full fat cottage cheese to get me to two cups.
I accidentally added half the sugar– it wasn’t sweet enough as a result.
Didn’t have enough milk, so no icing made. But I had candy melts and just drizzled that on. Good for sweetness, not good for aesthetics haha.
I’m saying all this because even though I had so many mistakes, it all worked out!!
If I wanted to make this with milk instead of coconut milk, would low-fat (not skimmed) milk be ok or would it have to be whole full-fat milk? Thanks!
I’d recommend whole milk! I’ve made this recipe making that exact substitution and it turned out great.
You say 5 cups + 1 cup cake (divided), cut into cubes.. What exactly does that mean?
It means you’ll have 6 cups total of cake cut into cubes. But because the 5 cups is used earlier in the recipe before the additional 1 cup, it’s advised to keep the 5 cups and the 1 cup separate. Hope this helps!
I just made a white cake with buttercream icing. The cake is very dry. Since it is already iced, should I still add sugar? Or should I scrape it off before I begin? Thank you!
When I made mine, I left the icing on. However, if you’re worried about the bread pudding being too sweet you could always cut the sugar down or eliminate it entirely.