Pretty much every country has a way of using old bread and turn it into something delicious. It can’t get much better than to combine traditional Irish soda bread with the sweetness of Irish cream or Baileys.
This bread pudding recipe is prepared in a similar way as any other bread pudding, with the addition of the Irish cream. You have two different choices here, you either add the Irish cream in (instead of the milk/cream) or you use a plain cream and add the Irish cream on the top as you take out the bread pudding from the oven. You can also whisk some extra cream and add a bit of Irish cream to that too. It really depends on how much alcohol you want in your pudding.
Since most alcohol evaporates once the temperature goes above 60C, if you add the Irish cream in at the beginning you end up with just the flavour (but not the actual alcohol). Perfect if you want to serve this pudding to children, but not so much if you want this to be a special treat for your friends.
If I’m completely honest, I usually decide on what I actually have in the cupboard. Irish cream is much more affordable than the branded Baileys, which means you can be a bit more heavy handed with the volume.
Another way to add the Irish cream in (without baking with it) is to whip some cream to serve your bread pudding with and add a generous table spoon to the cream. It will be light, but deliciously sweet with a hint of alcohol.
Other traditional recipes to inspire you
Traditional Irish soda bread pudding with Irish cream recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 large slices white soda bread about 1/2 loaf, but it depends on how big your loaf is
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 50 g seedless raisins or sultanas this is about a handful (as a measurement)
- 1 tbsp butter plus extra tablespoon for greasing your baking dish
- pinch of fine salt
- 50 ml Irish Cream to add to milk and bake with
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream topping
- 150 ml heavy cream (double cream) cream that can be whipped
- tiny pinch of fine salt
- 1 tbsp Irish Cream (or more to your liking)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (or 350 F) – medium gas oven heat.
- Prepare a deep baking dish by spreading butter around the bottom and sides
- Whisk the eggs with sugar and pinch of salt until light.
- Add the milk, Irish cream, vanilla essence to the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
- Arrange your bread slices into the baking dish. You can arrange them sideways (sort of stack them standing up) or you can do layers. I usually do layers, so I add a layer of bread, sprinkle a little bit of the seedless raisins, pour the egg mixture on top to moisten the bread and then carry on with the next layer. Depending on your baking dish you should have enough to do about 3 layers.
- Once you've used up all the bread, egg mixture and the raisins, leave the baking dish for a 10 minutes or so, so that the egg mixture can soak up into the bread before it starts to bake (this makes the bread pudding really soft).
- Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until it's golden in colour and nicely baked on the top.
- Serve with whipped cream (ingredients above) or just pour a bit more Irish Cream on the top. It's also perfect with vanilla icecream.
Learn how to bake bread at home with my practical bread making e-book. Step by step techniques, photos and tips on how to bake artisan bread, sourdough and enriched dough treats. Find out more and 
Leave a Reply