Fresh Cherry-Vanilla Bread Pudding

"Fresh Cherry-Vanilla Bread Pudding" (page 480) was my first experience making a dessert using fresh (as opposed to canned or frozen) cherries. It was a little daunting preparing the two cups of pitted and halved cherries, as I don't have a cherry pitter, but the worst thing that happened was my fingers turned red! J It didn't take as long as I thought it would to split and pit the cherries, and once that was done, the rest was a breeze. Pieces of cubed bread are covered with the prepared cherries and topped off with a blend of soymilk, tofu, sugar, and vanilla extract. Lastly coconut is sprinkled over all and the pudding is baked in the oven. The most surprising thing about this delightful dessert was how the cherries turned a sort of bluish-purple during the bake, and how they dyed the bread this color as well, almost the color of blueberries. I like fresh-fruit based desserts because they tend to be healthier than most, and this was no exception. The one change you could make to make it even healthier is to use whole grain bread instead of white.

 

"Keeping it McDougall Friendly" checklist:

ü Use whole grain oil free bread for the "cubes".