Eggless bread pudding

I don't remember telling this before but my maa likes her puddings and cakes with eggs.I somehow don't like the idea of including eggs in my desserts.It kind of creeps me out.Since 2 days she had been eating my head off to make some bread pudding.But with eggs off course!Lately,i  bumped onto this recipe of "eggless bread pudding" made by Niharika who owns a blog named "Truly madly deeply" which has some delicious recipes.By seeing those gorgeous clicks of her eggless bread pudding i had decided then that this is what i am going to be making next.When my maa heard i am going to make an eggless bread pudding she made a face and said "i need eggs in my pudding" just like a cute fussy toddler would say.But i somehow talked her into it and she agreed.To my surprise she loved the texture and taste of this bread pudding and ate almost all of it by her own.She didn't even miss her beloved eggs in the pudding.Mission accomplished!

Ingredients

• 5-6 slices of any type of bread
• 2 cups of milk
• 4 tbsp of granulated sugar for the pudding + 2 tbsp for the caramel
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence or as per your taste
• 2 tsp of cornflour/corn starch
• And a whole lot of patience

Method

1. Cut the bread slices into small cubes including the brown edges.
2. Add the corn starch and sugar into the milk and put it on a low flame.Stir till the sugar dissolves.
   
3. Once that done take it off the heat and add in the bread cubes and vanilla essence.
   
4. Mash the bread cubes with the back of the spoon.There should be no chunky pieces of the bread left into the mixture.Make sure the brown edges of the bread gets mixed well,too.
5. Meanwhile,heat up the pressure cooker with 3 cups of water.I made this in a momo steamer.Hence i set my steamer with water to boil.This is very important step because by the time your caramel is done you would want your water in the cooker or steamer to be boiling.
6. Now for the caramel you can either do it in a separate heavy bottomed pan or in the aluminium container in which you will be setting your pudding.Add the sugar into the container with 1-2 tbsp of water and put it on a low flame.Keep stirring it with a spoon to get an even color.Once the sugar turns amber it has a tendency to burn quickly and turn bitter.Hence keep an eye on it.Once caramelized  spread the caramel sugar into the container evenly.Swirl the liquid inside so that it coats the sides of the pan,too.
   
7. Spoon in the bread mixture inside the tin.I covered the tin with clean film and poked a few holes on top.You can even cover it with aluminium foil.
   
8. Place it inside the cooker or steamer.If you are using a cooker then make sure to remove the whistle and the gasket.In cooker it usually takes 20-25 minutes for the pudding to steam.But in a steamer it takes around 30-35  minutes.Once that done refrigerate the pudding(do not take it out of the tin) for at least 1-2 hours after it reaches the room temperature.Else while you cut into the pudding the pudding might not hold it's shape.
   
9. Once it's chilled your bread pudding is ready to be served.Flip the pudding on to a plate,cut into slices and Eat it up! :)