Making bread the star of dessert

Using stale bread in desserts is nothing new; bread pudding is centuries old. Different cultures have put their own spins on it, from France’s pain perdu to India’s shahi tukra. Today, pastry chefs are finding creative new ways to use leftover bread, using it as a critical ingredient in sweet treats like ice cream (gift link to NYT article).

Bread may seem like an odd ingredient in ice cream, but the gluten in bread acts as a natural stabilizer, leading to an ultra-creamy texture. Several chefs have jumped on the ice cream bandwagon, although that isn’t the only way they incorporate bread into dessert. London-based chef and recipe developer Alessandro Giannatempo uses challah to form a cone holding a mixture of semifreddo and candied kumquats. The pyramid-shaped dessert is gorgeous to behold.

If you are intrigued by the idea of using bread in ice cream, there are a few recipes in EYB Library that are available online, including these (see if you can spot a theme):

• Old sourdough ice cream [Fiona Hugues] from Cuisine Magazine
• Poached autumn fruit with soda bread ice-cream from The Guardian Feast supplement
• Honey and toasted rye parfait from delicious. Magazine (UK)
• No-churn brown bread ice cream from BBC Good Food
• Honey on toast ice cream from Nigella.com
• ‘Buttered toast’ ice cream from Sainsbury’s Magazine
• Brown bread soft serve with caramelised whey and chocolate crumb from Great British Chefs (pictured)
• Pumpernickel ice-cream from The Guardian Feast supplement

I’m not sure why the US, Canada, and Australia don’t seem to have any bread ice cream recipes when it seems to be quite popular in the UK. It may be time to latch on to this great idea!