Miascia

Miascia (Lombard Bread Pudding)

Miascia is a rustic, custardy bread pudding from Lombardy, northern Italy, traditionally made in spring to use up stale country bread and a bit of milk. It is dense, slightly sweet, and scented with vanilla and citrus zest.

Prep

15 min

Cook

45 min

Total

60 min

Serves

6 to 8

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (8½ oz (about 5 cups cubed)) stale country bread, rustic Italian or sourdough, cut into 2 cm cubes
• •500 ml (2 cups) whole milk
• •80 g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter
• •100 g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour
• •3 whole (3 large) eggs
• •80 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar, traditionally a mildly sweet pudding; increase to 120 g if you prefer it sweeter
• •1 whole lemon, unwaxed, zest only
• •1 whole vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• •1 pinch fine sea salt
• •10 g (2 tsp) unsalted butter, for greasing the baking dish

Steps

1. 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Butter a 22 cm (9 in) round baking dish with about 10 g of butter.
2. 2 Place the cubed bread in a large mixing bowl. Warm the milk with the butter, the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean (and the empty pod), and the lemon zest over low heat until the butter melts; do not boil.
3. 3 Pour the hot milk mixture over the bread and let it soak for 10 minutes, pressing gently so the bread absorbs the liquid.
4. 4 Discard the vanilla pod. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and salt until pale and slightly thickened, then sift in the flour and whisk to a smooth batter.
5. 5 Stir the egg-and-flour batter into the soaked bread until evenly combined; the mixture should be loose and custardy, not a stiff dough.
6. 6 Pour into the prepared dish and bake on the middle rack for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is deeply golden, the edges pull away from the dish, and a knife inserted in the center comes out with just moist crumbs (internal temperature about 85°C / 185°F).
7. 7 Let the miascia rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes so the custard sets; it is traditionally eaten lukewarm, either plain or dusted with a little powdered sugar.