Cherry Bread Pudding (Kirschenmannle)

Bread pudding is a fabulous way to use up stale bread. Because I rarely am able to finish a loaf of bread before it goes stale, I often have to make breadcrumbs or throw out the bread, depending on the state it is in.  However, a delicious and non-wasteful alternative solution is to make bread pudding.

I also had some frozen cherries in the freezer, so Kitchenklatsch's recipe for Franconian Cherry Bread Pudding seemed like the perfect bread pudding for me to make.  Kirschenmannle, the German name for the pudding, means "little cherry man" - how cute is that!

I just used ordinary stale white bread rather than rolls, buns or French sticks - it worked just fine.  I like the fact that this recipe folds meringue through the bread mixture, making it different to a typical bread pudding.  It also uses milk rather than cream, so it is lower in calories than rich creamy custard bread puddings.

I had some pudding warm for dessert with a scoop of icecream at home, and took the cold leftovers into work and cut it into squares as "cake" for my colleagues the next day.  It seemed to go down a treat, so that is definitely a win.

In the winter, bread pudding is a warming, comforting dessert, so when you are next scratching your head about what to do with your stale bread, I can highly recommend this cherry bread pudding.