quick bread pudding question

[geminigirl]

I am making a bread pudding to bring to work for tomorrow's breakfast. It's soaking in the liquid as I type. But now I'm wondering if I should bake it tonight and reheat at home in the am and bring in, or just bake it in the morning - I will have time since I get up pretty early. Only thing that might affect the decision is that it was made with panatone and it was pretty fresh...thinking this will soak up all of the liquid if I refrig and bake tomorrow...thanks

PS - do I have to refrigerate the unused panatonne? It's a 3lb and I only used one pound....

[todao]

Because there are only two of us in the house these days, I usually cut something like panettone into smaller portions and freeze. Then we enjoy it as we like over the next couple of weeks. I'm a little troubled with the "made with panettone and it is pretty fresh". It's not going to absorb as much of the custard as it should and you may find it takes a bit longer to bake thoroughly and the texture may not be exactly what you had hoped for. That's because moisture seeks equalibrium and if there was already moisture in the panettone it can't take on as much as it otherwise might. That said, and assuming you're going to serve it warm, I'd bake it in the morning. That'll also give it time to saturate as much as possible.
Appears we share zodiacal signs - nice to meet you.

[geminigirl]

thanks for the advice, I ended up baking it tonight, it's in the oven now..decided I wanted to try it myself tonight since it's my first time with this recipie and the last bread pudding I made want' too successful....ok, buzzer's going off...thanks again gemini:)

[todao]

Ya gotta love that independent spirit. Seeing as how it's a first time recipe, I'd have cooked it tonight too. Let us know how it turned out. I'd be especially interested in how it turned out when offered to the office staff. Sometimes those types of dishes improve with an overnight rest after baking.

[lemons]

If a bread pudding does soak up all its liquid, that's okay. Won't hurt it; the texture will just be a little different. I often let them soak overnight and then bake. As to the panettone, no, don't refrigerate it - you can, as todao said, freeze smaller slices. But even if it's stle, it makes fabulous toast. Mine is all gone, and I daren't buy any more until next year or I'd be the size of a wine barrel.

[nickblesch]

I've found that bread pudding reheats just fine - I would add a very, very small amount of liquid if you're worried about it drying out, and if you reheat it covered, you should be fine.

That said, while I've generally had bread pudding warm, I have also had it served cold / room temp, and it tastes good that way, too. :D