Buttery Crab Cake Pudding

I was perusing one of my cooking magazines a few months ago and saw this recipe for crab pudding. I thought that it was interesting and filed it away – I’m always looking for a little cooking inspiration.

So, I’m not an incredibly huge fan of crab but I loved this recipe because I thought that it would be perfect vehicle to incorporate my crab cakes into it somehow. I love my crab cakes.

I kinda have a policy on ingredients for recipes like this, when it’s not the focal point or when the pure flavor i.e. crab is going to be competing with other ingredients or flavors I tend not to use expensive ingredients, so I used imitation crab for this recipe but if you want the real stuff then go for it.

As I was working away in the kitchen, I was a little curious to see if this would even turn out okay – experiments are kinda like that. You just never know. As I pulled it out of the oven, I could smell the buttery toasty bread mixed with the savory smell of the crab and the other aromatics. So far so good.

As I spooned some out onto my plate, I was feeling more and more optimistic. One bite and I was sold.

Okay, here it goes. Slice up your bread and butter each side.

Butter makes everything better. You can exercise later.

Stand the buttered slices up in your baking dish.

Next, the crab cake mixture.

Spoon the crab cake mixture in between the slices of bread, then pour in the custard mixture evenly over the top.

Hot out of the oven. Delightful.

I could imagine eating this on a cool summer evening by the ocean, with the final rays of sun shining down and a cool salt laden breeze meandering by – or just enjoy it where you are.

Much love!
Jess

PRINTRECIPE

Buttery Crab Cake Pudding
1 stick butter, softened, plus more for greasing the dish
One 24-inch day-old baguette—ends trimmed, sliced into 3/4-inch slices

Crab Cake
1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/3 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz)
5 scallions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper

Custard
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half
Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350° and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, mix all the crab cake ingredients and set aside.

Butter each baguette slice and stand up the slices in the prepared baking dish. Using a spoon, place the crab cake mixture evenly between the slices of bread.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour the custard evenly over the bread and let it rest for 15 minutes. Bake the bread pudding for 30 or so minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the custard is set.

Remove it from the oven and let it rest in a warm place for 15 minutes before serving.

ENDPRINTRECIPE

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