This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe from Baking Chez Moi was one I wasn’t too keen on. A “Bettelman” is basically a bread pudding invented by the Alsatians to use up stale bread or brioche and I’m not a huge fan of bread pudding type desserts.
This one is a little different in that the brioche practically melts away when it’s soaked in hot milk meaning it’s much less like a bread pudding and more like a clafoutis, only lighter. This lightness comes from the egg which is actually separated in this recipe and the white whipped separately then folded into the milk/ brioche/ egg yolk/ sugar mixture (which also contains apples and raisins – only I used cranberries).
The result was a light clafoutis-type dessert that also reminded me a bit of Dorie’s Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake from Around My French Table. Definitely tasted better than its name implies (bettelman means “beggar” in Alsatian dialect) and I can honestly say that this is the first bread pudding I’ve actually really enjoyed.
I made 1/4 of the recipe and it produced three reasonable servings or 2 more generous ones. We served it with a drizzle of heavy cream for a perfect end-of-long-weekend dessert. I’ll be remembering this recipe next time I have old brioche or bread to use up! Waste not, want not!
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s bettelman on page 343 of Baking Chez Moi!
Tuesdays with Dorie participants don’t publish the recipes on our blogs, so you’re encouraged to purchase Baking Chez Moi for yourself which you can do on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in your country) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Then join us, baking our way through the book!
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Glad you enjoyed this, especially as you don’t like bread pudding usually. I didn’t mind it but am a stickler for old fashioned bread and butter pudding made the English way.
It reminded me of Marie Helene’s apple cake also but I liked it even better. I’m glad you liked it because I enjoyed reading your description of this dessert!
Your bread pudding does have the look and feel of clafoutis. Very cute in a small dish.
Yes, it does have the flavour profile of Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake! It was a big hit this weekend – I made a full recipe to start the weekend off and it was amazing how often people were dipping back into the refrigerator! I’m glad to know it minifies beautifully, too.
Your picture is beautiful! We are also not fans of bread pudding so this one surprised us! We really liked it…I am thinking because it was more like a cake than a pudding haha! Great job!
Glad you enjoyed this one. I like your idea of cranberries. I am not much for bread pudding either but we liked this one.
I, too, am not a fan of bread pudding. Unfortunately, this recipe did not change my mind.
i love it when a recipe surprises me for the better. i did just a couple of little ramekins myself, but am wishing i had a bit more so i could have tried it cold. next time!