Chef Juliette
Almond Pudding
Six almond-lined moulds, gently poached until softly risen, with white-wine sabayon scented by orgeat. The lesson is simple and exact: the bain-marie must tremble, never boil.
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German Bread Pudding
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2491, German Bread Pudding, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Brown crumb drinks Rhine wine, cinnamon, and moist sugar before eggs, butter, and a gentle bain-marie turn thrift into a tender pudding made for ruby fruit syrup.
Desserts
French
Comfort Food
Holiday
Make Ahead
45 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•2 hr total
YieldOne 1.25-liter pudding (6 servings)
Pouding de pain à l'allemande (German-style bread pudding) teaches that soaking is not a preliminary, it is the dish. Rhine or Moselle wine must reach every brown crumb before the eggs arrive, because a dry pocket survives the poach as a lump while fully saturated bread becomes a tender, cinnamon-scented custard.
The source formula assumed a large mold, a broad sieve, and a spare pair of hands to watch the bain-marie. Here it is halved into a 1.25-liter mold for six, with a fine-mesh sieve and a deep roasting pan doing the work in a steady home oven. No saucier, stockpot, or salamander belongs here. Repeated batch handling is brigade scaffolding and goes; the wine soak, sieving, butter, egg enrichment, folded whites, and gentle poach are the dish and remain exactly.
The finished pouding is moist and close beneath its brown surface, rich with butter but lifted by the wine, with bright fruit syrup running into every slice. Give the crumb its full soaking time and press it completely smooth before adding the eggs. That is the step that decides everything.
In the French classical repertoire, pouding de pain à l'allemande belongs to the family of entremets marked à l'allemande, a style pointing toward the Rhine and Moselle table rather than claiming one universal German household formula. Brown bread, wine or beer, moist sugar, and cinnamon carry the borderland larder shared around Alsace, the Moselle valley, and the German lands across the Rhine; the grand kitchen's contribution was to sieve the thrift pudding smooth, enrich it with eggs and butter, and poach it as a molded custard. Fruit syrup is not decoration here but the prescribed accompaniment, supplying the bright acidity the rich crumb needs.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
stale brown bread crumbs
Quantity
2½ lightly packed cups (590 ml / 150 g)
made with the crusts included
Rhine or Moselle wine, or malty beer
Quantity
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (495 ml / 490 g)
dark brown sugar
Quantity
½ packed cup (120 ml / 113 g)
ground cinnamon
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.7 g)
large whole eggs
Quantity
2
large egg yolks
Quantity
3
unsalted butter
Quantity
5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g)
melted and cooled slightly
large egg whites
Quantity
2
unsalted butter for the mold
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g)
softened
raspberry, red-currant, or sour-cherry fruit syrup
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / about 215 g)
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| stale brown bread crumbsmade with the crusts included | 2½ lightly packed cups (590 ml / 150 g) |
| Rhine or Moselle wine, or malty beer | 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (495 ml / 490 g) |
| dark brown sugar | ½ packed cup (120 ml / 113 g) |
| ground cinnamon | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.7 g) |
| large whole eggs | 2 |
| large egg yolks | 3 |
| unsalted buttermelted and cooled slightly | 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g) |
| large egg whites | 2 |
| unsalted butter for the moldsoftened | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) |
| raspberry, red-currant, or sour-cherry fruit syrupfor serving | ¾ cup (180 ml / about 215 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •1.25-liter pudding or charlotte mold, or 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan
- •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible scraper
- •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
- •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Ready mold and bath
Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Butter a 1.25-liter pudding mold, charlotte mold, or 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan, then line its base with a fitted piece of parchment. Set a kettle of water to boil and choose a deep roasting pan that holds the mold with room around it.
- 2
Saturate the crumb
Whisk the wine, brown sugar, and cinnamon until the sugar loosens into the liquid. Pour this over the bread crumbs, stir thoroughly, and leave them for 30 minutes, pressing and turning them twice so every crumb drinks. The mixture will look very loose at first. That is exactly right; the generous wine soak supplies both the pudding's moisture and its character.
If using beer, choose a rounded, malty bottle without aggressive bitterness. The liquid reduces into the pudding, so any harsh edge becomes louder. - 3
Sieve until smooth
Work the soaked crumb through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible scraper, collecting the smooth purée in a large bowl and scraping the underside of the sieve. This is not decorative fuss. Sieving removes stubborn crust and gives the pouding its custard-like texture; stop only when no dry grit remains.
- 4
Enrich the base
Beat the whole eggs and yolks together just until blended, without whipping in a froth, then whisk them gradually into the bread purée. Pour in all 71 grams of melted butter in a thin stream, whisking until the mixture is uniform. If the butter forms little beads because the base is cold, set the bowl over barely warm water and whisk gently until it comes together. Keep the water mild so the eggs don't begin to cook.
- 5
Fold in whites
Beat the egg whites until they hold soft, curved peaks. Stir one-quarter into the bread mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remainder with broad turns of the spatula, reaching to the bottom of the bowl each time. Stop when only a few pale streaks remain; chasing perfect uniformity knocks out the air the whites were added to provide.
- 6
Poach in bain-marie
Pour the mixture into the prepared mold and cover it loosely with parchment and foil. Set the mold in the roasting pan, then pour in boiling water to reach halfway up its sides. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the edges are set, the center gives only a slight tremble, and an instant-read thermometer reaches about 170°F (77°C). The bain-marie, a hot-water bath, keeps the eggs below a harsh baking heat. If the water starts boiling hard, lower the oven to 300°F (150°C) and add a small glass of cool water to the roasting pan. Ça se rattrape.
- 7
Unmold and sauce
Lift the mold from the bath, uncover it, and rest the pouding for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge, invert it onto an ivory platter, and peel away the parchment. If it clings, wrap the mold briefly in a warm damp towel before trying again; if an edge tears, spoon fruit syrup over that side and serve it generously. Never apologize at your own table. Bring the remaining syrup separately so every serving receives a proper pool. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The wine does the work here. Choose a dry or gently off-dry Rhine or Moselle Riesling you would happily pour beside dessert; cork taint, sourness, or coarse sweetness will carry straight into the crumb.
- •Use stale whole-wheat, rye-blend, or other honest brown bread, with the crusts. Very soft sandwich bread collapses without giving the pudding much character, while toasted bread can resist the wine and leave hard flecks.
- •Moist sugar means a brown sugar that holds a little molasses, such as dark brown sugar or muscovado. White sugar sweetens, but it loses the damp caramel note specified by the formula.
- •Fruit syrup is invariable with this pouding. Raspberry and red currant give the sharpest contrast, while sour cherry is darker and rounder; serve enough to pool around the slice, not a timid decorative thread.
Advance Preparation
- •The bread can be reduced to crumbs two days ahead and left loosely covered so it dries evenly. Measure it by weight before soaking, since different loaves fill a cup very differently.
- •The bread may soak in the wine, sugar, and cinnamon for up to eight hours in the refrigerator. Add the eggs, butter, and whipped whites only when you are ready to poach the pudding.
- •The finished pouding can be made one day ahead, chilled in its mold, and reheated covered in a fresh bain-marie at 300°F (150°C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Keep the fruit syrup separate until serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
395 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
180 mg
Sodium
170 mg
Total Carbohydrates
54 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
43 g
Protein
8 g
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