Milk tea is a delicious result of Hong Kong’s melting pot history. Chinese tea drinking rarely involves dairy, but the British influence in Hong Kong created what recipe developer and fashion designer Peter Som describes as a magical elixir made by combining strong black tea and sweetened condensed milk. Sweet, bitter, creamy, and so, so good, milk tea is very drinkable on its own and is an irresistible base for this bread pudding. Melted and warmed vanilla ice cream makes for a lightning-fast, no-stress crème anglaise.
For the rest of Som’s Thanksgiving menu, see his recipes for Asian Pear Salad With Peanut-Lime Dressing, Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Gochujang Brown Butter, Sweet Potato Tian, Dutch Oven No Mai Fan, and Char Siu Wellington.
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What you’ll need
13x9" Baking Dish
$20 At Amazon
Small Sieve
$8.99 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$32 At Amazon
Whisk
$10 At Amazon
Small Saucepan
$155 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
8 Servings
Ingredients
1
1
2½
2
1
1
8
4
1
¾
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 300°. Spread out brioche on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, tossing halfway through and reducing oven temperature if browning too fast, until brioche is very dry and lightly toasted, 25–35 minutes. Let cool.
Step 2
Meanwhile, bring condensed milk and half-and-half to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla until sugar is dissolved. Add tea bags and let sit 25 minutes.
Step 3
Remove tea bags from pan, wringing them out over pan; discard tea bags. Whisk egg yolks and egg into tea mixture until incorporated.
Step 4
Increase oven temperature to 350°. Butter a 13x9" baking dish. Arrange brioche in an even layer in baking dish and scatter raisins on top. Pour custard mixture over; toss brioche to coat, then press down lightly to partially submerge. Let sit 20 minutes to give brioche time to soak up custard.
Step 5
Bake bread pudding until golden brown and custard is puffed and just set (it should barely jiggle when gently shaken), 35–40 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.
Step 6
Meanwhile, heat ice cream in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and just warmed through (do not simmer), 5–8 minutes. Transfer crème anglaise to a small pitcher or bowl.
Step 7
Dust bread pudding with powdered sugar, then cut into squares and divide among plates. Drizzle crème anglaise over and arrange lychees around if desired. Serve remaining crème anglaise alongside.
How would you rate Milk Tea Bread Pudding With Crème Anglaise?
Leave a Review
Reviews (25)
Back to TopDelicious and easy to make, left off the Crème Anglaise (enjoyed the temp variation of hot bread pudding with cold ice cream), not too sweet (in a good way), used PG Tips tea, strongly recommend this or other similar high quality tea - also left off the lychees, love them but they don't shine here
Anonymous
Houston, TX
6/30/2022
Hello again. I was the one who posted the "Anonymous" review. I realized I made a mistake with recommending the tea amounts! It's too much! I wasn't able to edit my comment, so I am writing another comment here. I would say that 12 tsp should be the maximum rather than 16, since with that amount, you might not be able to sleep at night (so, maybe 10-12 tsp instead of 14-16 tsp, or less than that)! Of course, when it comes to adding looseleaf tea leaves, you have to play it with it to see how much you want, in terms of flavor. Just be careful with the caffeine levels! Also, keep in mind that the type of tea you are using will affect the quantities of tea leaves to add in. Everything else that I originally said still stands though!
Anonymous
Canada
4/24/2022
Great recipe! It gave me a delicious bread pudding! I would definitely recommend to use looseleaf tea instead of tea bags to really get the tea flavor into the milk. Add the leaves directly to the pot, and then strain them out once the milk tea is done steeping. Also, you can adjust the amount of tea leaves according to your taste. I would recommend 14-16 tsp of black tea (16 tsp is good if you really want a strong taste). Either way, it's a delicious, rich pudding. I love eating it for breakfast or as a dessert! Oh, and if you want a more "natural" sweet flavor, I would recommend to substitute the granulated sugar for brown sugar. I guess also, I used brown sugar instead, since I love Hong Kong milk tea with brown sugar (I was inspired by the Brown Sugar Milk Tea at Gong Cha as well...). I've heard also that the brown sugar gives the pudding a moister texture (an added bonus...).
Anonymous
Canada
4/23/2022
I prepared this for Christmas dessert and although I followed the recipe exactly, it came out dry, more like a baked French Toast. We all liked the flavor, though. But the tea did not really come through. I have a much better, custardy recipe that maybe I will adapt to the tea infusion. As is, it is a good brunch dish, IMO, but not a decadent Holliday dessert. So 4 stars as French Toast.
Jodi
NYC
12/26/2021
This was tasty but didn't really think it had a milk tea flavor. It was overly sweet and would omit the granulated sugar since the creme anglaise is plenty sweet.
KLAU
Midland Park, NJ
12/5/2021
Delicious! Made this with challah (what our store had) and earl grey tea. Shared with family for Thanksgiving breakfast. Not too sweet, just right flavor. Keeping in my repertoire!
Hanna
Madison, NJ
11/26/2021
I haven’t made this yet but I guess it would be possible to use challah instead of the brioche?
Nancy
Victoria, BC
11/16/2021