This Red Velvet Bread Pudding Recipe is a decadent dessert, with rich red velvet cake mixed with a mouth watering custard. Definitely a crowd pleaser!
This Red Velvet Bread Pudding Recipe might be the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted! It’s insanely rich and delicious, but super easy to make. If you’re having a dinner party, make this for your guests! Pull it out of the oven piping hot, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream… your guests will think you are a culinary whiz. I promise it is THAT good.
What is Red Velvet Flavor?
Don’t throw things at me, but red velvet hasn’t always been my favorite. I have tried to like it, I really have! Maybe I just don’t understand it. I can wrap my mind around flavors like vanilla, mint, strawberry. But red velvet? I mean what is it, besides intensely red? But here’s the truth:
Red velvet is made with cocoa powder, vinegar and buttermilk. When these three ingredients are combined, they give the cake a deep reddish color. Most recipes call for extra red food coloring for a more vibrant hue. So red velvet cake tastes like chocolate, with a slightly acidic flavor. And it’s delicious in all sorts of recipes like my Red Velvet Bars and this silky Red Velvet Buttercream Frosting.
Keys to Bread Pudding Recipes
The three main components of perfect bread pudding are:
- Bread or cake
- Custard mixture
- Simple toppings and flavorings
With this in mind, you can make so many different flavors of bread pudding! It’s a perfect dessert to make if you have leftover sweet bread, cake or other type of baked good that you need to use up. The custard is simple to make and you can dress it up with various spices and flavorings. So yummy!
Tips for Perfect Bread Pudding
- For your bread (or cake, for this red velvet bread pudding recipe) you want it to dry out a bit. That way it will absorb the delicious custard mixture and bake up moist and delicious!
- Don’t overbake the bread pudding or it will end up dry.
- Make sure to refrigerate the bread pudding after it has baked and cooled to room temperature
- You can serve bread pudding recipes warm or cold.
- Most bread pudding recipes (including this red velvet one) are a two day process, so make sure to plan ahead! Make it a day ahead, refrigerate overnight and bake it right before serving. Or you can bake it ahead and keep in the refrigerator for a day or two, then reheat in the oven.
Ingredients for this Red Velvet Bread Pudding Recipe
I’m taking a couple of shortcuts for this recipe and that’s okay! The important thing about this luscious dessert is who we share it with, and how it makes us feel. Don’t sweat the small stuff! Here’s all you need for this decadent dessert:
- A red velvet cake mix and the ingredients to make 24 cupcakes
- Chocolate chips (half to mix into the pudding and half to bake on top
- Eggs, milk, heavy cream and vanilla mix together to create a deliciously rich and easy custard.
How to make Red Velvet Bread Pudding
Don’t be intimidated by this dish; it’s super easy to make! It just takes time so make sure to start the day before you want to serve.
- Bake red velvet cupcakes according to the box mix directions.
- Cut them into quarters and allow them to dry out on a cookie sheet overnight.
- The next day, mix together your eggs, milk, heavy cream and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Then, fold in the red velvet cake chunks into the custard mixture. Make sure they’re completely covered with custard.
- Let the whole thing sit for about ten minutes while your oven preheats to 350.
- Stir half of the chocolate chips into the mixture, leaving the other half to sprinkle on top just before baking.
- Bake in a 9×13 pan for about 40 minutes.
That’s it! Top each serving with ice cream, whipped topping, a dollop of cream cheese frosting, or a drizzle of chocolate sauce. You won’t believe how delicious this dessert is!
More Bread Pudding Recipes
Bread pudding is the kind of dessert that I forget about sometimes, and I fall into a rut making other sweets. But why? When there are SO many delightfully rich and easy bread pudding recipes to choose from. Try some of these yummy recipes:
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this Red Velvet Bread Pudding Recipe! Will you serve it with ice cream? Serve warm or chilled? Drop me a comment and let me know what’s your favorite way to eat bread pudding. Enjoy!
Red Velvet Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 16.5 oz red velvet cake mix and the ingredients it calls for, made into 24 cupcakes
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup milk I used 2%
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 TBSP vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Cut your cupcakes, about an hour after baking them, into quarters and lay them out on a baking sheet overnight.
- When you are ready to make your bread pudding, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the eggs, milk, heavy cream and vanilla together in a large bowl. Add your cupcake chunks. Mix until all the cupcake chunks are completely covered in the mixture. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- Prepare a 9 by 13 inch glass baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray. Mix a half a cup of chocolate chips into the mixture. Spread it into the baking dish and top with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 40 minutes.
Notes
Lyuba@willcookforsmiles says
Oooo, this bread pudding sounds so good, Lisa! Such a great dessert for Valentine’s day :)
Thank you for the shout-out!!
Thanks Lyuba!! It’s so yummy, I had to quickly farm it out before I ate the whole pan, lol!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I know! I’m trying to make a scratch red velvet recipe and I’m all…what’s it supposed to taste like??? Cake? With some flavor other than red? It’s really hard to figure that out. Give me chocolate or vanilla any day. But bread pudding made out of cupcakes? YES!
Dorothy, just think of all the ridiculous bread pudding combinations that are about flood the pages of Wine & Glue, lol!
tanya says
You are truly a whiz, using cupcakes in bread pudding-awesome! That bowl isn’t big enough for me, though.
Lol! This comment made me spit out my coffee Tanya! :)
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
I want a nice comforting bowl of this!
No, you want five Jocelyn. Lol! :)
tanya says
How did I miss the link love earlier??? Thank you Lisa!
You’re welcome Tanya!
Meaghan Voigt says
Lisa…you just haven’t had my red velvet cake! It is a “light cocoa” cake with tumor-causing amounts of red food coloring, plus a sweet bechamel frosting. AND…it is heaven on a plate. Next time I make it, I’ll bring you over a slice…you. will. be. changed. Yes, I’m tooting my own horn. Deal.
This recipe looks so yummy! <3
Bring. It. Over. Meaghan!!!
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
I love red velvet!! So glad you decided to give it a go! Your bread pudding looks amazing!!
Thanks Nancy!
dina says
i love red velvet. it looks great!
Thanks Dina!
Heather @ French Press says
this is pure awesomeness!
Thanks Heather!
Sarah says
Cupcakes into bread pudding looks simply divine!