Budín de pan, or bread pudding, is a classic Puerto Rican and Latin American dessert that turns stale bread into a rich and comforting treat. Made with simple ingredients like bread, milk, eggs, sugar, and warm spices, it’s infused with cinnamon, raisins, and a touch of rum. Enjoy it warm or chilled for a nostalgic and delicious bite.
This budin de pan (bread pudding) is delicious all year round. However, it is great for special celebrations like Easter, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. Unlike other bread puddings the bread is soaked in hot custard to the point of almost dissolving into a homogeneous mixture. Creating a silky dense cake. Other traditional Puerto Rican desserts to help you celebrate include Panetela (a spongy cake with guava paste in the center), Polvorones (crumbly almond flavored cookies), Arroz con Dulce (sticky sweet rice pudding), or Tembleque de Coco (no baked coconut custard) for a delicious dessert table on a Galentine's Day or Mother's Day celebration.
For a complete Puerto Rican-inspired menu, serve Instante Pot Pernil (pork roast in an Instant Pot) , Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican rice and pigeon peas), Pastelon (sweet, ripe plantain meat pie), Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken casserole), Guineos en Escabeche (pickled green bananas), and Empanadillas (crispy Puerto Rican meat pockets) to your menu. These are great recipes for gathering and sharing. Don't forget the Tropical Red Sangria with Rum, Coquito, Pistachio Coquito, or a delicious Cafe con leche.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Rich, spiced, and custardy, this dessert is a great way to repurpose old bread into something special.
- Texture: This budin de pan has a silky texture, almost reminiscent of a flan. Some bread puddings tend to maintain the texture of the bread used to make the pudding. In this recipe, the bread is soaked so that it breaks down and becomes homogenous with the rest of the ingredients.
- Ease of preparation: This dessert is easy to prepare and can be made in advance, making it an excellent choice for special gatherings. Mix the ingredients, let it sit overnight, or bake it in the oven when ready to serve.
- Crowd pleaser: As a comfort food that is rich and satisfying. It is also a versatile dessert that can be made with different types of bread and flavorings, including blondies, brownies, danishes, or pastries, making it appealing to a wide range of tastes.
- Economical: Extremely economical if you eat bread regularly. My mom would freeze leftover, stale bread to save it to make a bread pudding.
Ingredient Notes
- Stale bread with crust removed
- MIlk
- Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, anise star, nutmeg, allspice
- Lemon zest
- Sugar
- Butter
- Dark rum (optional)
- Vanilla
- Ginger
- Eggs
- Raisins (optional)
- Salt
- Bread: In Puerto Rico we use Pan de Agua. Our version of what many know as Cuban bread is similar to an Italian loaf or French baguette. Some differences are the crust is relatively thin. French and Italian loaves have a hardier crust. Very soft but will harden or stale relatively quickly.
- Milk: You might think the amount needed is an exaggeration, but you will need to double the milk to the weight of the bread.
- Eggs: Bread pudding base is a custard, and you need plenty of eggs to make a good custard.
- Other ingredients: Vanilla, Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Ginger, Lemon Zest, Salt, and Butter.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Variations and Substitutions
- Milk: Use coconut milk or combine it with milk to give this budin a tropical twist.
- Other Dried Fruits: If you do not want raisins on it, you can play with other of your favorite dried fruits instead of raisins. I would experiment with cherries or apricots.
- Nuts: One of the oldest recipes for bread pudding I found had toasted sliced almonds, along with raisins to be added to the bread pudding.
How to make Budin de Pan
Here are the step-by-step instructions to make this delicious bread pudding.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter desired baking pan. Use a loaf pan, muffin pan, 8x8, or 9x13 pan.
- Step 1: Prepare the milk with Sugar, Spices, Salt, and Vanilla. Place it on the stove and warm through. Mix the sugar until dissolved. Bring the milk to a boil, being careful not to boil over.
- Step 2: While the milk warms, soak the raisins with warm water and a splash of rum (optional to use rum). Use enough water to cover the raisins and cover.
- Step 3: Once the milk mixture has boiled, strain and add to the bread crumbles (The picture shows spices so that you can see the final look of the milk before straining.)
- Step 4: Add the milk mixture to the bread crumbles. Mix to moisten all the bread. Let soak for 30 minutes.
- Step 5: After 30 minutes, add lemon zest, grated ginger, and butter and incorporate.
- Step 6: Lightly beat the eggs and add to mixture, mixing thoroughly.
- Step 7: Drain excess liquid from raisins and add to mixture.
- Step 8: Pour mixture into baking pan. I chose two small aluminum pans because I was going to gift them. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center may come out slightly moist but not wet. If it's completely dry, the pudding might be overcooked.
- Step 9: While the pudding cooks, pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula. As it thickens and changes to a golden brown color, add rum. Cook for an additional minute then remove it from the heat. Let it cool before using.
- Step 10: Once the pudding is ready, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. Cut into pieces and serve with rum caramel sauce, ice cream, or both.
Top Tip: Removing the crust of the bread
Removing the crust gives a smoother texture to the budin de pan. Crumble bread into bite-size pieces.
Expert Tips
- Stale Bread: Buy your bread at least three days in advance. Allow the bread to sit out and become stale. Once the bread becomes stale, the flavor changes into a tart taste and the bread's texture will be crumbly and hard. This helps tremendously in the making of this dish. You can make "stale" bread by heating the oven to 150-200℉. Cut the loaf in half, cross, and lengthwise. Place the pieces of bread on a cookie sheet and let them rest in the oven for about 20~30 minutes. Stale bread is a lot easier to remove from the crust as well. The bread will practically crumble in your hands.
- The smaller the pieces, the better: If you want to make this bread pudding smooth and silky. Traditional American bread pudding has larger pieces and is not soaked to the point that the bread will dissolve. In Puerto Rico, we dissolve the bread into the custard.
- Warm or Cold: This pudding can be served chilled or at room temperature; however, served warm enhances the flavor and texture of the dessert.
- To warm in the oven:
- Preheat to 300°F (150°C).
- Cover the pudding with foil to prevent drying out.
- Heat for 10–15 minutes or until warmed through.
- Stovetop (For Individual Slices)
- Melt a little butter in a pan over low heat.
- Add a slice of bread pudding and warm for a few minutes per side.
- To warm in the oven:
- Room Temperature: It's best if the eggs and milk are at room temperature, as this helps them mix more evenly and bake more consistently. Cold ingredients can lead to uneven texture or longer baking time. Let your ingredients sit out for about 30 minutes before mixing if your ingredients are cold.
Recipe FAQs
Any of your favorite bread. You can even use danishes, brownies, and blondies. I had a Cuban loaf for this recipe, but Italian, French, or Puerto Rican loaves work well. As for Puerto Rican loaves, we have Pan Sobao, which tends to be sweeter. Pan de Agua tends to be larger and has no prominent sweetness.
In a way, yes. The idea stems from this being an ideal recipe for using old bread, keeping you from wasting any product. Also, stale bread tends to be dryer and harder because it has no moisture, which means it will absorb all the liquid added to it. You can make "stale" bread by heating the oven to 150-200℉. Cut the loaf in half, cross, and lengthwise. Place the pieces of bread on a cookie sheet and let them rest in the oven for about 20~30 minutes. Stale bread is a lot easier to remove from the crust as well. The bread will practically crumble in your hands.
I have eaten bread pudding cold and warm, but warm is the best way to serve it. The warmth brings out a lot of the delicate flavors within the pudding. In the case of this pudding, when served warm, the silky texture will melt in your mouth, and the anisette bursts from the raisins.
Yes. Both words mean the same. They are different dialects of the same word. Different countries use them either interchangeably or one or the other. Budins/pudins can be as savory as a sausage (the word budin takes root in Latin to botellus, which means sausage) and as sweet as a mousse. So the next time you eat sausage for breakfast, remember you are eating pudding.
More Desserts and Sweets Recipes
- Pecan Crusted Cheesecake with Guava Berry Coulis
- Puerto Rican Polvorones (Shortbread Cookies)
- Authentic Puerto Rican Tembleque de Coco
- Pistachio Coquito
I’d love to hear from you! Did you try this recipe? Leave a review and rating below. Let’s connect on Instagram, and don’t forget to join my email list for fresh new recipes weekly.
📖 Recipe
Budín de pan (Puerto Rican Bread Pudding)
Ingredients
- 1 load Puerto Rican bread If Puerto Rican bread is not available, use Cuban, French, or Italian bread.
- 1 qrt milk
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 6 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 6 allspice seeds
- 1 nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp (pinch) salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ stick butter
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup raisins if using
- 1 shot dark rum completely optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter desired baking pan.
- Prepare the milk with Sugar, Spices, Salt, and Vanilla. Place it on the stove and warm through. Mix the sugar until dissolved. Bring the milk to a boil, being careful not to boil over.
- While the milk warms, soak the raisins with warm water and a splash of rum (optional to use rum). Use enough water to cover the raisins and cover.
- Once the milk mixture has boiled, strain and add to the bread crumbles (The picture shows spices so that you can see the final look of the milk before straining.)
- Add the milk mixture to the bread crumbles. Mix to moisten all the bread. Let soak for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, add lemon zest, grated ginger, and butter and incorporate.
- Lightly beat the eggs and add to mixture, mixing thoroughly.
- Drain excess liquid from raisins and add to mixture.
- Pour mixture into baking pan. I chose two small aluminum pans because I was going to gift them. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center may come out slightly moist but not wet. If it's completely dry, the pudding might be overcooked.
- While the pudding cooks, pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula. As it thickens and changes to a golden brown color, add rum. Cook for an additional minute, then remove it from the heat. Let it cool before using.
- Once the pudding is ready, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. Cut into pieces and serve with rum caramel sauce, ice cream, or both.
Notes
Top Tip: Removing the crust of the bread
Removing the crust gives a smoother texture to the finished product. Crumble bread into bite-size pieces.- Stale Bread: Buy your bread at least three days in advance. Allow the bread to sit out and become stale. Once the bread becomes stale, the flavor changes into a tart taste and the bread's texture will be crumbly and hard. This helps tremendously in the making of this dish. You can make "stale" bread by heating the oven to 150-200℉. Cut the loaf in half, cross, and lengthwise. Place the pieces of bread on a cookie sheet and let them rest in the oven for about 20~30 minutes. Stale bread is a lot easier to remove from the crust as well. The bread will practically crumble in your hands.
- The smaller the pieces, the better: If you want to make this bread pudding smooth and silky. Traditional American bread pudding has larger pieces and is not soaked to the point that the bread will dissolve. In Puerto Rico, we dissolve the bread into the custard.
- Warm or Cold: This pudding can be served chilled or at room temperature; however, served warm enhances the flavor and texture of the dessert.
- To warm in the oven:
- Preheat to 300°F (150°C).
- Cover the pudding with foil to prevent drying out.
- Heat for 10–15 minutes or until warmed through.
- Stovetop (For Individual Slices)
- Melt a little butter in a pan over low heat.
- Add a slice of bread pudding and warm for a few minutes per side.
- To warm in the oven:
- Room Temperature: It's best if the eggs and milk are at room temperature, as this helps them mix more evenly and bake more consistently. Cold ingredients can lead to uneven texture or longer baking time. Let your ingredients sit out for about 30 minutes before mixing if your ingredients are cold.
