Almond Poppy Seed Bread Pudding

For our wedding we had two kinds of cake.  My husband picked out a spice cake while I picked out an almond poppy seed cake.  Unfortunately, I never got to have any of the almond poppy seed cake, so I wanted to try to make my own.  I found this recipe for almond poppy seed cupcakes and almond buttercream frosting.  When I was already in the process of making these cupcakes, I realized that I didn't have any paper baking cups for my muffin pan, but I figured I could just grease the muffin cups, and they would turn out fine.  Wrong conclusion.  The cupcakes were very tasty, but they came out in at least 3 or 4 pieces, if not more.  So they were no longer cupcakes, and I decided to make them into break pudding instead.  Here's what I did:

Ingredients for cupcakes

• 2.25 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Ingredients for bread pudding:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs, whipped

Ingredients for frosting:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3.75 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon almond extract
• 3 tablespoons milk

To make the cupcakes:  Preheat the oven 325 degrees.  Cream the sugar and the butter.  Add the sour cream, eggs, almond extract and dry ingredients.  Stir in the poppy seeds.  Spoon the smooth batter into lined cupcake pans.  Bake the cupcakes for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then let them cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the bread pudding:  Crumble the cupcakes in a greased 9 X 12 baking dish.  Mix the cream, milk, and eggs together and pour over the crumbled cupcakes.  Let sit in the refrigerator overnight.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool completely.

To make the frosting:  Mix the butter, powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk and beat them for several minutes until a smooth, creamy frosting forms.  Adjust the consistency by adding more milk or powdered sugar, as needed.  Once the bread pudding is completely cooled, spread the frosting on the top. 


Although I didn't get the cupcakes I wanted, this bread pudding was quite yummy!  I especially enjoyed the frosting.  I will probably make this again, even if I do the paper baking cups and am actually able to make the cupcakes as directed.