Make Peach Bread Pudding, and save the ice cream for a truly hot day.
The other day I bought some peaches, thinking to make soy ice cream when the weather was so hot. (It got to 87 one day!) But last night it cooled down and today was in the fifties, Fahrenheit. Definitely not a day for ice cream.
So I decided to fool around with the bread pudding recipes I've been eyeing. I'd bought a box of egg replacer when I was in the States, where that sort of thing is easily found at just about any health food store. I debated whether to add silken tofu, but in the end used soy cream, which seemed to do the trick. I had some French bread, but it wasn't stale, so I let it sit on the counter for a while, where it became pseudo-stale.
Maple syrup and pecans—because almost every dessert is better with pecans—rounded out the dish. And some lemon sauce I stole from Paul Prudhomme.
The next time we have a heat wave, I'll be prepared to make peach ice cream. If it lasts long enough.
Peach Bread Pudding with Lemon Sauce
3 or 4 peaches
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 loaf stale french bread
1 cup soy cream
1 cup soy milk
½ cup maple syrup
egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ground nutmeg
1/4 cup pecans, toasted
Lemon Sauce
whipped topping, optional
Peel peaches and chop loosely. Place in a bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Set aside.
Tear bread into cubes. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine cream, egg replacer, maple syrup, soy milk, and vanilla. Add a dash of salt and another dash or two of nutmeg.
Place bread cubes in a baking dish, approximately 9 inches by 9 inches. Add the peaches and if using, the pecans. Pour liquid mixture over the bread.
Let sit for 20 minutes while the bread soaks up some of the liquid.
Bake in a 350 (180C) oven for 45 minutes.
Notes on ingredients: Egg replacer is a powdered mix found in many health food stores. You can probably substitute 2 teaspoons of arrowroot powder. You might also consider substituting soy egg nog, which is available during the holidays, for the liquid ingredients, since that's what it reminded me of.
Lemon Sauce:
half of 1 lemon
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour), dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Squeeze juice from half the lemon. You should have around 2 tablespoons. Place in a sauce pan with water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken up. Add the vanilla and serve with the bread pudding.
