Maybe what my mom used to tell me is true: My eyes are bigger than my stomach. That would explain why, every year at Hanukkah, I insist on buying a dozen sufganiyot (yeasted donuts) when I know I can only realistically eat one before I feel absolutely overloaded with sugar. They’re just so pretty, glistening with their sugary glaze – and besides, who buys just one donut?
But failing to learn my lesson each year, I wake up the next morning with the better part of a dozen donuts staring back at me, so I finally decided to bake them up in a whole new dessert: Sufganiyot Bread Pudding with Chocolate Gelt!
Store-bought raspberry jelly sufganiyot do a lot of the hard work for me in this recipe. They’re perfectly sweet and tangy, with a light, fluffy texture. I’ve added a custard to hold the whole thing together, leaning on my standard bread pudding recipe that combines eggs, egg yolks, heavy cream and milk. Vanilla extract and orange zest bring another layer of flavor.
Once the bread pudding’s fully cooked, I throw some homemade gelt on top (in the immortal words of Ina Garten, “store bought is fine!”). The result is a creamy, chocolate-studded masterpiece fit for a crowd of Hanukkah partygoers.
Ingredients
- pan spray, for coating the pan
- 10-12 raspberry jelly sufganiyot
- 4 eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1 orange
- 6 pieces of gelt (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F, and spray a 10½”-by-7” casserole dish with pan spray.
- Cut the tops and bottoms off of 10-12 jelly donuts lengthwise, so you can see a little dot of raspberry jelly. Roughly chop the tops and bottoms into bite size pieces.
- Combine 4 eggs, 4 egg yolks, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and the zest of one orange in a large mixing bowl, and whisk thoroughly.
- Arrange the donuts in the casserole dish with the jelly “dots” facing up, and use the small donut pieces to fill in the gaps. Carefully pour the custard mixture over the donuts, making sure to coast each donut in custard. Use the back of a spoon to lightly squish the donuts so that they absorb the custard. You may not need to use all of the custard mixture. (In which case, you can save the leftover custard in the fridge for individual-sized bread puddings in ramekins.) Let the donuts soak for about five minutes, and then add more custard until it’s about a half inch to an inch from the top of the dish.
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. The bread pudding may have a slight jiggle in the center, but it shouldn’t appear runny. Use the back of a spoon to test the center. Once it’s set, remove the pan from the oven and, if using, dot the surface with pieces of gelt. The gelt will slowly melt into the bread pudding, adding pockets of chocolate.
