natural bliss

"Loved your  blog post," emailed Lauren of Lippe Taylor. She was referring to my ice candy treats that I just recently posted. I used French Vanilla Coffee-mate to make the refreshing summer treat, and Coffee-mate just happened to be a client of theirs. Even before Lauren emailed me though I often incorporated Coffee-mate into the recipes presented on my blog. I just love the hint of flavors it evokes in my cooking and baking.

 "We just launched Natural Bliss, the first all-natural coffee creamer from Coffee-mate made with only four ingredients – milk, cream, sugar and all-natural flavor. There are absolutely no artificial ingredients, not to mention, it packs in all of the flavor without the added calories and fat (Only 35 calories and 1.5 grams of fat!). Natural Bliss comes in Vanilla, Sweet Cream and Caramel."  Her email said.

"Hmmm... interesting," I thought.

A day later, my kids called me while I was at work. "Mom there's a big box by the door"  they excitedly informed me.

"Open it!" I said.

Before I could think of what I ordered online, next came a text message containing this photo:

Yep, it was a box full of Coffee-mate samples and I was more than excited to try them out.

This morning, I saw loaves of bread in my pantry and I instinctively decided to make bread pudding. I have shared a bread pudding recipe here before, but this time I wanted to blend in the samples of Coffee-mate. For this recipe, I used the Natural Bliss Coffee-mate sweet cream flavor... and the verdict? Let's just say that my kids loved the feeling of waking up one summer morning with freshly baked bread pudding waiting for them in the kitchen. Every bite of this desert was indeed NATURAL-ly BLISS-ful.

Grandma's Old Fashioned Pudding

This recipe is an off-shoot of my husband's paternal grandmother. She gave me this recipe almost 18 years ago. 

Ingredients:
8 pcs. eggs
1 can condensed milk
1/2 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup Natural Bliss Coffee mate Sweet Cream
1 loaf of bread (in my case, I used bread scraps)
1 cup sugar (to caramelize the pan)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F
In a baking pan, pour sugar and caramelize.  Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix the evaporated milk and condensed milk. Add the eggs and gently mix it together. Add the bread. I tear the pieces by hand and I make sure it is chunky.

Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake it in a baine marie for about 30 minutes or until cooked. I always use the "toothpick" technique of checking. You know it's done when you prick the bread pudding with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out clean.