Slow Cooker Bread Pudding with Strawberries

Mother's Day. The third one in this journal, and the first one with Mama in the house. The holiday has acquired a new dimension — I am a mother being celebrated by my children and a daughter celebrating my mother, and the two roles overlap in the kitchen, which is where all roles overlap in this family.

James gave me a leather journal — beautiful, handmade, with my initials embossed on the cover. "For the cookbook," he said. The gift assumes the cookbook will happen, which is either faith or prophecy, and coming from James, it is both. Carrie gave me a haiku she had written in Japanese and then translated into English: "The soup pot simmers / grandmother's hands in my hands / one recipe, two." I held it for a long time. I am holding it still.

Robert gave me time: a full day off, no library responsibilities, no logistics, no spreadsheets. "Cook whatever you want," he said. "I'll handle everything else." So I cooked. I made she-crab soup and cornbread and peach cobbler and benne wafers, and I cooked all day, and Mama sat at the kitchen table and watched and corrected and hummed, and Joy helped by washing the dishes with more water than soap but with perfect enthusiasm, and the kitchen was full of women doing what women in this family have always done: making food, making memory, making the thing that sustains us when everything else fails.

In the evening, the five of us sat around the antique dining table and ate what I had made, and Mama tasted the she-crab soup and closed her eyes and said, "This tastes like the parsonage," and I said, "That's because the cook came with it," and she smiled, and the smile was the best Mother's Day gift I received — better than the journal, better than the haiku, better than anything that could be wrapped or signed. The smile was Mama recognizing herself in my cooking, and the recognition was the thing I have been working toward for three years: not just to make the food but to carry the cook.

Of everything I made that day — the she-crab soup, the cornbread, the benne wafers, all of it — it was the bread pudding that brought the kitchen to a standstill. Maybe because it sat in the slow cooker all afternoon filling the house with vanilla and warm bread while Mama hummed and Joy splashed at the sink, or maybe because bread pudding is the kind of recipe that asks you to take what’s already been made and make it into something new, which is what this whole journal has been about. This is the version I made that Mother’s Day, the one that tasted like the parsonage and the present tense at the same time.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (12-14 ounce) loaf day-old French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
4 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
Powdered sugar, for serving

For the Vanilla Cream Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Prepare the slow cooker. Grease the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with butter. If desired, line with parchment paper for easier removal.
Make the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until smooth. Stir in the melted butter.
Combine bread and fruit. Add the bread cubes to the custard mixture and fold gently until all pieces are coated. Let sit for 10 minutes so the bread absorbs the liquid. Gently fold in the strawberries.
Transfer to slow cooker. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared slow cooker and spread evenly. Press down lightly with a spatula so the top layer is nestled into the custard.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 2-1/2 to 3 hours, until the center is set and a knife inserted comes out clean. The edges will be golden and slightly pulled away from the sides. Avoid lifting the lid during the first 2 hours.
Make the vanilla cream sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the powdered sugar and cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly, and cook for 2 minutes until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Serve warm. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle generously with the vanilla cream sauce, and dust with powdered sugar. Serve while it still holds the warmth of the afternoon.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow Cooker Bread Pudding with Strawberries — The Thing That Sustains Us