Cherry Upside-Down Bread Pudding -- The Pour That Earned Me a Promotion

The second week of January and senior year has resumed with the particular intensity that the last semester brings. Every teacher has a final project. Every deadline feels heavier because after this there are no more semesters, no more deadlines, no more walking these halls — and I am surprised to find that I will miss the halls. Not the fluorescent lights or the cafeteria food, but the walking, the routine, the knowing exactly where you are going and who you will see when you get there.

AP Biology has entered the genetics unit and I am in my element. This is what I came for — the molecular mechanics of life, the way DNA replicates itself with an accuracy that would make MawMaw Shirley's recipe cards look sloppy. I told Mrs. Patterson that I wanted to do my final project on sickle cell disease in the Black community — the genetics, the history, the way medical racism shaped both the disease and its treatment. She said yes immediately. She said she had been waiting for a student to choose that topic. I said I had been waiting for permission to write about it, and she said, "You don't need permission. You need data." She is right.

No word from LSU yet. The early action notifications come in February. I have done the math on how many days remain and I am choosing not to share that number because it makes me sound unhinged. Jada applied to Southern and to Xavier in New Orleans. She wants to be a teacher — middle school math — and she will be excellent at it because she has the patience of a woman who has been explaining fractions to me since sixth grade and has never once made me feel stupid for not getting it.

I drove to Baker Saturday. MawMaw Shirley was in the kitchen when I arrived — always in the kitchen, always already started, as if the cooking begins before I get there and my arrival is just the story joining a narrative already in progress. She was making bread pudding, the one with the brioche and the bourbon sauce. I helped with the custard. She let me pour it this time, which she has not before, because the pour is where the bread pudding lives or dies. "Slow," she said. "Let the bread accept it." I poured slowly. The bread accepted it. I felt like I had been promoted.

Mama made baked chicken and rice Wednesday — the Wednesday standard, reliable as a clock, and after a week of thinking about genetics and deadlines and the unknowable future, the reliability of Wednesday chicken was exactly what I needed. Not everything has to be extraordinary. Some meals exist to remind you that ordinary is a gift.

MawMaw Shirley’s bread pudding — that slow pour, the custard soaking into the brioche while she watched with the patience of someone who has made this a hundred times and knows exactly what patience looks like — stayed with me all week. I wanted to try my own version at home, something with that same principle at its heart: let the bread accept it, don’t rush it, trust what you’re doing. This cherry upside-down bread pudding carries that same spirit, flipped at the end to reveal something unexpectedly beautiful, which feels right for a week that was mostly about waiting for things to reveal themselves.

Cherry Upside-Down Bread Pudding

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 8 cups day-old brioche or French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare the pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Brush a 9x13-inch baking dish with the melted butter, coating the bottom and sides thoroughly.
2. Layer the cherries. Spread the cherry pie filling in an even layer across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. This becomes the top once the pudding is inverted, so take your time making it even.
3. Add the bread. Arrange the bread cubes in a single layer over the cherry filling, pressing them gently so they settle into the pan without disturbing the fruit below.
4. Make the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is fully dissolved.
5. Pour slowly. Ladle or pour the custard mixture over the bread cubes gradually, moving across the pan to distribute evenly. Let the bread accept the custard — do not rush this step. Press down gently on the bread with the back of a spoon to help absorption. Let rest for 10 minutes so the bread soaks it fully.
6. Bake. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the custard is set in the center and the top of the bread pudding is golden brown. A knife inserted into the center should come out mostly clean.
7. Rest and invert. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Run a thin spatula or knife around the edges of the dish to loosen. Place a large serving platter or baking sheet over the dish and invert carefully in one confident motion. Lift the dish away to reveal the cherry layer on top.
8. Serve. Dust with powdered sugar if desired and serve warm. Leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days and rewarmed gently in the oven.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 260mg