Blueberry bread puddings have lemon topping

The blueberry bush in the back yard is brimming with berries. That’s great news, you say. Well, it is if you like gray/green berries. A grand total of four of them are now blue, and we hope by tomorrow will be ripe for picking. No need to rush these things. We put a net over the bush to keep our bird buddies and other critters away. Not that we don’t believe in sharing, but we do have our limits.

So to celebrate the future of big blues in the yard, we’re featuring these delightful blueberry bread puddings baked in ramekins and topped with a tart lemon curd made with fresh lemon juice. Lemon adds such a refreshing touch to summer desserts. Make these up in the morning while it’s still cool, and enjoy for dessert later.

BLUEBERRY BREAD PUDDINGS WITH LEMON CURD

Puddings:
1-1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4-1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed French bread (about 8 ounces)
Cooking spray
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, divided

Lemon curd:
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons butter

To prepare puddings: combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl, stirring well with whisk. Add bread, tossing to coat. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Divide half of bread mixture evenly among 8 (6-ounce) ramekins or custard cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup berries. Divide remaining bread mixture among ramekins; top with 3/4 cup berries.
Cover each ramekin with foil. Place ramekins in 13x9-inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to depth of 1 inch. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
To prepare lemon curd: combine 1/3 cup sugar and 1 egg in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring with whisk. Cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color, stirring constantly. Stir in lemon juice and butter; cook 2 minutes or until mixture coats back of a spoon, stirring constantly with whisk.
Place saucepan in large ice-filled bowl for 5 minutes or until lemon curd cools to room temp. Serve lemon curd over warm bread puddings. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 bread pudding and 1 tablespoon lemon curd)
CALORIES 240 (20% from fat); FAT 5.2g (sat 2g, mono 1.8g, poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 7.1g; CHOLESTEROL 112mg; CALCIUM 84mg; SODIUM 234mg; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.9g.
(Recipe from Cooking Light, November 2002)