How to Rescue an Almost Ruined Cake or Bread

We all know Jenna Weber of Eat, Live, Run, right? I love her blog and it is one of the food blogs I visit daily. So, when she posted her Meyer Lemon Bread with Blood Orange Glaze last Wednesday, I was almost drooling. Something had to be done because it was all I could think about the whole day. After work, I ran to the store and scoured the fruit aisle for some blood oranges. I almost missed them because they were right next to the navel oranges and looked exactly the same. The feeling of devastation started coming… how can I make that gorgeous pink glaze now, darn it?!? But oh, wait a second, that says blood oranges. SWEET!!!

As much as I love everything sugary, chocolatey, and sweet, I am not a big fan of glazes or frosting, especially if it’s tinted with food coloring. However, after being introduced to this natural pink coloring from the blood oranges, I was sold. This is the most gorgeous shade of pink I have ever seen and there’s absolutely nothing fake about it!

On a rainy Thursday afternoon, I made this Blood Orange-Cranberry Cake-Bread, inspired from three different cake recipes. Time for experimenting! I used different types of flour, substituted half the butter for some yogurt, and lessened the sugar. Usually, these combinations work, but this time it didn’t. So… after taking pictures and being all excited about this cake, I had my first bite… sad! So, so, so sad! The blood-orange glaze was great, fabulous, wonderful… but the cake was not. It was too dense and seemed like it didn’t rise enough. What did I do wrong? The taste wasn’t horrible, but the texture was pretty bad. I berated myself and thought that I should’ve stuck to tried and tested recipes instead of making my own. I was so tempted to pull out mixing bowls, whisks, flour, butter, sugar, and eggs right then to redeem my mistake, but self-control won over.

Because the not-so-great cake that was my attempt at being inventive did not turn out right, the recipe will not be shared. But, here is Jenna Weber’s blood-orange glaze recipe. It is so darn good, you’ll want it on everything!

Fast forward two hours later… an epiphany: I’m going to turn this cake into a pudding!

So, that’s exactly what I did. If you baked something and found out that you messed up, turning it into a pudding will save it and change it into a winner dessert!

Here’s my oh-so-simple recipe…

Save-the-Dessert Bread Pudding

messed up bread or cake, cut into ½-1 inch cubes

2 cups milk (whole milk, low fat, non fat, all are ok)
½ cup sugar (or as much as you prefer, I added the rest of the blood orange glaze, so I didn’t use any extra sugar)
cinnamon (as much as you prefer)
nutmeg, freshly grated (as much as you prefer)
½ tsp allspice

2 large eggs

Grease a large, glass, baking dish with a bit of butter. Place cake or bread cubes in the dish.

Heat the milk over medium-low in a sauce pan until just warm. Add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Stir.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat eggs well.

Pour the milk into the egg bowl. Whisk well.

Pour the milk-egg mixture into the baking dish. Allow the bread/cake to absorb the liquid for about 5 minutes, mixing once or twice to make sure every piece is soaked through.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes, until the liquid has almost solidified and the top pieces are golden brown.

Serve warm!

 Share your cooking mishaps and what you did to save your dish!