I wanted to experiment with recipes using cardamom because I adore the spice. I created this one after making cardamom braids, a traditional sweet bread from Norway. The finest bread for this is cardamom braided, but French or Italian bread will also work.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 5 cups cubed stale firm white bread
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9×12-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place the bread cubes in the prepared dish. Sprinkle the pecans over the bread.
- Beat the eggs, 1 1/2 cup milk, almond extract, 1 tablespoon cardamom, cinnamon, and brown sugar together in a bowl until thoroughly combined; pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes and pecans. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and allow the casserole to sit 15 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes; remove the aluminum foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown, another 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Mix the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, and 3 tablespoons milk in a bowl with a fork until smooth; pour over the slightly cooled casserole to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 313 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 74 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 199 mg |
| Sugars | 28 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
If you love the taste of cardamon you will love this recipe. Everyone inhaled it.
Easy and delicious.
Made this for Father’s Day Brunch and found it to be a very forgiving recipe. Cardamom is expensive! So I just put more cinnamon. Also, I used a very cheap loaf of white sandwich bread, chopped it into squares and let it sit out overnight to get stale. Since we’re a dairy-free household, I used almond milk instead of regular milk. It was such a hit! Will definitely have to make it again.
When I made this, it turned out rather burnt and crunchy on top, and the bottom half was very gooey. However, I think that if I baked it in a bigger pan it should turn out just fine. After all it was pretty tasty.
I made this following directions except I did add a little vanilla to the top mixture. My family didn’t like it as well as I did, probably because they aren’t used to the taste of the cardamom. I think the next time I would make it, I’d only use half the cardamom just to win them over. The egg/milk mixture didn’t quite soak up all the bread, so there was a variety of bread textures in the casserole. Thanks for the recipe!
I was a little hesitant to make this; I love cardamom and cinnamon, but I always disliked bread pudding and that’s kinda what this sounded like to me. I used the bread I had on hand, which happened to be Udi’s gluten-free sandwich slices. I tore slices to pieces and firmed them up a bit in the oven. Other than that, I followed the directions as is, except added a few raisins in with the bread chunks and baking in a ramekin (made a single serving). As I suspected, the texture was not a hit with me-I loved the top layer but below, it was too soft for my liking. BUT the flavors and overall taste was very yum! Since the issue was a personal preference, I will adapt this recipe next time I make French toast on the stove top because I really like the combo. Thanks for the inspiration!