cranberry cream cheese bread pudding

by tijuana, 12/19/2015

in thinking for a holiday dessert this year, i wanted to try something completely different. not an ordinary bread pudding with the usual fruit... but something with a twist. when i decided on cranberries, i knew it would be a risk given their tartness. so i tried to balance the tartness with the right amount of sweetness. i have to say while i was making this dessert, it looked so festive and pretty! it was so quick and easy, i couldn't wait for it to come out the oven. despite how gorgeous it was to look at, it was delicious. there are bursts of tartness from the cranberries, creaminess from the cream cheese and sweet crunchy bread pieces. of course, you can use any fruit you like in this bread pudding, but you gotta branch out and try the cranberries. it was awesome! 🙂

total Time: 01h 20min
prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 60 minutes
yield: 12 servings

ingredients:

custard
4 eggs - lightly beaten
3 cups half and half -
1 cup white sugar -
2 teaspoons vanilla extract -
2 tablespoons melted butter -
sweetened cream cheese
8 ounces cream cheese - room temperature
1/3 cup sugar -
1 teaspoon vanilla -
remaining ingredients
10 slices white bread - cut into cubes
2 cups fresh cranberries -

instructions:

the full tutorial video for this recipe is found here:

preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
in a medium sized mixing bowl, blend the eggs, half & half, vanilla, sugar and melted butter. set aside.

in another bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. blend with a mixer until smooth and combined.

in a large casserole dish, add half of the bread cubes to the bottom of the dish.
sprinkle the cranberries over the bread.
dollop the cream cheese mixture evenly across the bread.
top with remaining bread cubes.
sprinkle remaining cranberries over the top.
pour the custard mixture over the top.
press the bread mixture down into the custard mixture.

cover and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. uncover and bake for an additional 30 - 40 minutes or until slightly jiggly in the middle. allow to cool for about 15 minutes before cutting.