Let's make a delicious budín de pan al estilo Salvadoreño (Salvadoran bread pudding)

Every country has their own version of bread pudding and El Salvador is no different. Growing up I looked forward to seeing left over bread on the counter because I knew it would later become budín de pan, which is bread pudding. My mom always made a very simple version that included bananas but throughout the years of visiting family in El Salvador I've realized that many add a layer a caramel and freash bananas. I'll leave it up to you if you if you want to add the caramel and fresh bananas on top or want to stick with a basic version. If you need video guidence you can find the video recipe on Instragram and Tiktok!

How to make Budín de pan al estilo Salvadoreño:

Ingredients for caramel (optional):

• 1 -1 1/4 cups of sugar

• 1/4 cups of water

Ingredients for bread pudding mixture:

• 4-6 pieces of three day old pan frances or bolillos. You can also use a full bar of sandwich bread.

• 3 ripped bananas

• 5 cups of milk

• 1 tbsp vanilla

• Ground cinnamon

• 2 eggs

• Raisins (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Place a sauce pan on medium heat, add 3/4 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Stir constantly to prevent the sugar from sticking, it's going to take about 3-5 minutes for the sugar to melt and start caramelizing. Once it has a gold brown color to it, remove it from the heat, add it to your baking dish and spread it in an even coat.

2. Prepare the bread pudding mixture. First, break down the bread into small pieces and add it into a large bowl. Then add the milk on top and let the bread soak for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, two bananas and any other ingredients you want to add like raisins.

4. In a separate bowl scramble two eggs and then add it to the rest of the ingredients.

5. Dissolve all the ingredients and mix everything well with your hands. You want the bananas and bread to be mashed down as much as possible.

6. Optional step: Peel and cut one banana into round pieces and add them on top of the caramel layer in the baking dish.

7. Add the bread pudding mix on to the baking dish and bake for 45 mins - 1 hour depending on your oven temperature or until a knife comes out clean. Let it rest for at least an hour before you flip it over. You may have to use a knife to unstick the pudding from the baking dish edges before you flip it onto a serving dish.