Lemons, so bright, so fresh and so very tasty in everything you eat! Today I have sunshine on my mind and lemons remind me of sunshine. Lemons combined with poppy seeds and then cream cheese....Yum. I came across this recipe last week while 'surfing' on my computer one drizzly, grey morning. I had all the ingredients in my kitchen so I decided to try it out.
Growing up my parents always grew poppies in their garden and at the end of summer when the poppies were ripe it was my job (and my sisters and brother) to harvest the seeds from the dry poppy heads. One of my favorite 'chores' as a lot of the poppy seeds ended up in my mouth but making sure that enough went into the pail for my Mom's kitchen. ( She loved to bake us treats with poppy seeds)
I love to grow poppy seeds in my garden too, they are such a happy looking plant, so many colours, shapes and sizes and then at the end of the season - so many heads to collect the seeds from.
Perfect for baking up some treats of my own.
Lemon Poppyseed Cream Cheese Bread Pudding
The ingredients you will need.
The custard mixture ready for the bread.
The cream cheese mixture ready for the pudding.
The first layer of bread topped with the lemony cream cheese mixture.
The rest of the bread is layered along with the final cream cheese and custard mixture.
Lemon Poppyseed Cream Cheese Bread Pudding baked and sampled....Yum.
A delicious tangy, creamy dessert - perfect for family and friends.
LEMON POPPYSEED CREAM CHEESE BREAD PUDDING
original recipe from Food Wanderings In Asia
5 1/3 cups bread, day old and cut into cubes
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 2 lemons
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
Lemon Sauce
3 egg yolks
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. sugar
juice of 2 small lemons
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. water
1/2 of a stick of butter, cut into cubes
Prepare the lemon sauce.
Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Mix well.
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice together in a pan over low heat. Stir constantly for about 4 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring for 3 minutes or more until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and add the butter, one cube at a time. Stir until smooth. Transfer to a container. Press a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Heat in the microwave quickly before serving with the bread pudding.
To make the bread pudding:
Heat the milk with the sugar in a pan on low heat (or in a microwave) and stir until completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and mix in the heavy cream. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks gradually until well combined. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix well. Stir in the poppyseeds. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the cream cheese together with the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside.
Butter an 8x8 inch square baking dish. Arrange half the amount of bread cubes in a single, even layer. Drop dollops of the cream cheese on top of the bread cubes. Pour about 3/4 cup of the custard over the bread cubes. Top with the remaining half of bread cubes. Drop dollops of the remaining cream cheese over the bread. Carefully pour the rest of the custard mixture evenly over the whole thing. Set aside for 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge, covered and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until the pudding is set.
Best served warm drizzled with the lemon sauce.
(to top my pudding I used a store bought Lemon Curd)
'The best things in life are free. And it is important never to lose sight of that.
So look around you.
Wherever you see friendship, loyalty, laughter, & love...there is your treasure.'
Neale Donald Walsch
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