Greek Coffee Bread Pudding
This Greek recipe was born of the quest for modernizing traditional recipes. The flavors are very soothing, almost caramel-like. Greek coffee is very finely ground and needs to be prepared in a special pot called a briki. You can also use regular brewed coffee for this Greek dessert recipe.
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Butter
for greasing
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4
large eggs
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1½
cups
(330 g) brown sugar
-
2
cups
(480 ml) heavy cream, plus more for serving
-
1
cup
(240 ml) milk
-
1
cup
(240 ml) strained Greek coffee or regular brewed coffee, chilled
-
2
teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
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Pinch
of ground cinnamon
-
Grated zest of ½ lemon
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6
cups
of 1-inch cubed stale brioche
tsoureki, or egg bread
-
½
cup
(75 g) raisins
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Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Butter a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cpan.
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Whisk together the eggs and brown sugar in a bowl. Add the cream, milk, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Stir well.
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Put the bread cubes and raisins in a large bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes and allow to sit for 20 minutes.
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Transfer the mixture to the buttered pan. Bake in a water bath for 40 to 50 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, cut into squares or circles, and serve, if desired, with a drizzle of cream.
How to Make Greek Coffee – You’ll need a special, tapered pot with a long handle, called a briki. For 2 demitasse cup (what you’ll need for this recipe), place 2 heaping teaspoons of Greek coffee in the briki and two and a half demitasse cups of water. If you want to make it medium sweet, add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir gently and continuously over medium heat until the coffee swells and froths. Right before it boils over (!), remove from the heat and pour into 1 regular coffee cup or two demitasse cups.