Bocado de Reina (Guatemalan Bread Pudding)
Bocado de Reina is an easy, traditional Guatemalan dessert made of leftover bread, milk, eggs and cinnamon. Customize it with fruit, nuts or dulce de leche or serve it plain with ice cream.
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 975kcal
Cost: $10
Equipment
- whisk
- Baking Dish - 9 x 13 inch oval or rectangular. Preferably stoneware, pottery or Corningware rather than clear glass or metal.
Ingredients
- 6 cups day-old challah or brioche bread diced into 1-inch cubes
- 5 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Half and Half cream
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 Tablespoons syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoons grated orange zest
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups mango chunks cut in one-inch pieces (divided) thaw before using if frozen.
- 2 kiwi fruit peeled and sliced crosswise
- 10 fresh strawberries stems removed and sliced
- icing sugar for dusting optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Brush the inside of a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish with one-half of the melted butter.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Add the milk, cream, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and whisk again until completely combined.
- Add the cubes of bread to the bowl of egg and milk and stir just until combined. Let sit for 15 minutes in the refrigerator. While it's soaking, prepare the fruit.
- Spread half the bread on the bottom of the greased baking dish. Distribute and press down lightly on the bread with a fork so the bread completely covers the surface of the baking dish.
- Sprinkle one cup of the mango chunks over the surface of the bread.
- Top with remaining bread and press down lightly so the surface is even. It will be bumpy. If you're making it the night before, stop at this stage. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight.
- Brush top with remaining butter. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until firm to the touch and lightly browned. Check after 20 minutes and cover lightly with foil if it's browning too quickly.
- Cool for 5 minutes. Then arrange remaining mango, sliced kiwi, and strawberries on top, and dust with confectioner’s sugar if desired.
- Serve with syrup, ice cream or whipped cream.
Notes
- You can store it in the fridge for two or three days and reheat it in the microwave.
- Store baked individual servings for up to six months in sealed freezer bags. Just thaw in the fridge and reheat in the microwave before topping with fruit.
- Make the base of this pudding ahead and freeze it before baking. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in a microwave or oven (covered) before topping with fruit.
- A popular variation in Guatemala is to crumble the bread into very fine pieces rather than chunks. That will produce a dessert that's more cake-like than pudding.
Nutrition
Calories: 975kcal | Carbohydrates: 103g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 432mg | Sodium: 929mg | Potassium: 270mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 2446IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 211mg | Iron: 2mg