Bread pudding made with leftover hot cross bunny buns

I am still not up to much cooking, but I did want to share this in case anyone ends up making the hot cross bunny buns, or just regular hot cross buns, for Easter, and have leftovers. I did the trial run for the bunny buns a couple of days before I went to the hospital. Eight (!) of them were consumed almost right away, but the rest ended up getting hard and forlorn since (cough) someone forgot to put them in the freezer fast enough.

Never fear though, they made great bread pudding. It was so good that even I was able to eat a little, in my current uncomfortable-swallowing and lack of appetite state.

Sorry for the lack of photos...it got devoured before I had a chance to shoot. I'll put some in next time I have leftover hot cross bunnies.

Recipe: Hot cross bunny bun bread pudding

• 4 stale hot cross bunny buns
• 1 litre or 1 quart of milk (whole is better)
• About 2 Tbs. (or however much you want) of butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract or a vanilla pod
• 1/4 cup raw cane sugar (or light brown sugar) plus extra to sprinkle on top

Shred up the bunny buns. You will want to shred them up so that they no longer look anything like bunny faces. Otherwise, once you put them in the milk-egg batter, they will stare up at you balefully, spooking you out. (If you're starting with ordinary hot cross buns, you will not have this problem.) Put the shredded up bunny bread in a square deep baking pan (I used a brownie pan).

If you're using a vanilla pod, cut it open in half and scrape out the seeds, and add to the milk. If you're using vanilla extract, add it to the milk.

Beat the eggs, and add the milk/vanilla and sugar and mix together thoroughly. Pour over the shredded up buns. If the sugar hasn't melted, don't worry - just add it to the pan, it will melt in there. The dried up bread will soak it up thirstily. If some pieces poke out, push them in. Cover and let it soak in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Heat up the oven to 150°C / 300°F. Take the pan out of the fridge, and dot with bits of butter, as much as you want.

Sprinkle the top with a little more sugar. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until the top is browned and it's more or less set.

To be extra indulgent, serve with vanilla ice cream.