Talking to strangers can pay off. Especially when the stranger is a nice lady with a good recipe and a willingness to share.
In Lisa Tam’s case, the stranger was a "little lady" in line at Liliha Bakery, an alliterative coincidence that portended good things. "When she found out I was waiting for bread pudding she exclaimed, ‘Oh, but bread pudding is so easy to make!’ She told me her name was Sue Akimoto and she said she was a retired cafeteria lady from Stevenson Intermediate. Then she asked me if I would like her recipe."
Tam sent a copy of the recipe along when she ordered this year’s Top 5 "By Request" recipes, just because she thought it was worth sharing. And it is — a not-too-sweet treat with an apple-pie topping. I offer it as an idea for a brunch buffet during the holidays, and as a reminder that if you want this year’s top recipes, you’ve got just nine more days to order them (instructions are at the end).
Akimoto’s recipe calls for scalding milk, an instruction you don’t see much in recipes anymore. Scalding was developed to kill bacteria and enzymes in unpasteurized milk. Not so necessary these days, but some bakers still scald, to remove enzymes that can affect rising. In this case, think of it as heating the milk in order to melt the butter.
Now, to return Tam’s favor, she is asking for another school recipe, the Spanish rice once served at the University of Hawaii Laboratory School. "It was so ono," she says. If you have it, or a line on the cafeteria lady (or man) who might have made it, please get in touch.
STEVENSON SCHOOL APPLE SWEET-BREAD PUDDING
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-pound loaf sweet bread
5 eggs, beaten
1 (20-ounce) can apple pie filling
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Scald milk in small pot (stir over medium heat until steamy but not boiling). Add sugar and butter, stirring until sugar is dissolved and butter melts. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat; set aside until cool enough to touch, so that eggs don’t scramble when added (refrigerate a few minutes if you’re in a hurry).
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with butter.
Cut bread into cubes and spread evenly in pan. Top with apple slices, cutting any thicker pieces in half. Sprinkle with raisins. Beat eggs into cooled milk mixture and pour evenly over bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 30-35 minutes.
Nutritional information unavailable.
Last call for Top 5 recipes
Deadline to order this year’s best "By Request" recipes of 2014 is Dec. 26 — next week. Send in your $5 for the collection. All proceeds go to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund.
This year so far we’re raised more than $5,000.
This year’s recipes: Kapalama School Peanut Butter Coffee Cake, Old-Fashioned Hamburger Steak With Brown Gravy and Grilled Onions, Chicken With Lychee Sauce, Woolworth’s Chocolate Dobash Cake and Kahuku High School Cherry Crisp.
Send $5 for each set of recipes, along with a self-addressed, stamped, legal-size (4-by-9-inch) envelope for each set ordered (if you want five sets, send $25 and five envelopes). Make checks payable to the Good Neighbor Fund.
Mail orders to: "By Request" Top Recipes, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. No fax, phone or email orders.
Email bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.
