Triple Orange Bread Pudding

I really felt like bread pudding the other day, but couldn't find a vegan recipe for one quickly enough.  My version is based loosely on a recipe from The Joy of Cooking, my very first cookbook.

Triple Orange Bread Pudding

3 to 5 cups diced fresh bread or 3 ½ cups stale bread or stale cake

3 cups of soy milk (I used half unflavored and half vanilla flavored, you could use all of one or the other)

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder  

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp orange extract

1/8 to ¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ to ½ tsp cinnamon (freshly grated is best)

1/8 to ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

12 oz. of Firm Silken Tofu (The "aseptic" kind.  Mori-Nu is a good brand, comes in a box, isn’t refrigerated in the store)

1/3 to ½ cup granulated sugar

½ tsp more of vanilla extract

Grated zest of one small orange

Juice from that same orange

½ cup organic raisins

½ cup of chocolate chips

1 tbsp organic Turbinado sugar (could use regular sugar, too)

1 tbsp vegan margarine (like Earth Balance or Smart Balance)

More freshly grated nutmeg & cinnamon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9x9 or 8x8 inch baking dish.  Cut bread into 1 inch cubes and put in a large, wide-mouthed bowl.   

Put your liquid ingredients and some of the dry ingredients (soy milk through nutmeg) into a large, 4 cup measuring cup (cup then doubles as a small bowl) or a bowl if you don’t have the big measuring cup, and wisk them together to incorporate. 

Pour the soy milk mixture over the bread and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime, put the tofu through orange juice into your food processor and blend until smooth.  Then, pour it over the bread mixture and gently stir it all together.  Stir in raisins and/or chocolate chips if you like. 

Sprinkle the top with the Turbinado or regular sugar and dollop with bits of margarine (I use Earth Balance).  Sprinkle some more freshly grated nutmeg & cinnamon on top:

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until the pudding is set and a toothpick comes out clean (it will still be moist).  Serve with any of the following: fresh fruit, cashew crème, maple syrup, vegan sausages & bacon, or whatever else you feel like eating.  Enjoy!