Food & Cooking Cooking How-Tos & Techniques Here Are All the Tools You Need to Make Martha's Fabulous Bread Pudding This next-level dessert is made using mostly kitchen essentials that are useful for so many recipes. By Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years. Editorial Guidelines Published on November 24, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Whether you're looking for an extra-special dessert recipe to make for an important occasion—like a holiday, birthday, or dinner party—or want to close out a family meal with a statement-making sweet treat, you just can't beat Martha's Bread Pudding. In true Martha style, it's a next-level comfort food, a dessert that combines rich brioche bread with heavy cream and milk, plenty of eggs, currants or other dried fruit, orange zest, and a touch of brandy. Our founder says it's fine to use leftover white bread or even wheat if you don't have brioche—but yes, brioche does make it best! She also counsels you to use whatever dried fruit you have on hand in place of the currants and even says you can forgo the brandy, perhaps using a teaspoon or two of pure vanilla extract instead. If you think about it, bread pudding is a little like French toast casserole, which means that you could also serve this decadent dish for a celebratory breakfast or brunch. Whatever meal you make Martha's bread pudding for, here are the essential tools you'll need to make it just like our founder does. Best of all, the recipe doesn't require any speciality tools, so these are worthy investments that you'll use on the regular when making all types of different dishes. Essential Equipment Oval Baking Dish: Apilco Deep Oval Roaster, No. 6 Glass Mixing Bowl: Duralex Lys Clear Stackable Bowl Balloon Whisk: Sur La Table Stainless Steel Balloon Whisk Liquid Measuring Cups: Pyrex Measuring Cups, Set of Three Citrus Press: Martha Stewart Collection Citrus Press Why Martha Uses Bar Cloths Instead of Paper Towels 01 of 09 Oval Baking Dish Courtesy of Williams Sonoma This classic French porcelain roaster is similar to the one Martha uses. She prefers the look of an oval dish when making her bread pudding, but any shape would work. Not only is this deep dish elegant and understated, but it's also durable and versatile—you'll use it for sweet and savory dishes from casseroles to fruit crisps, not just for bread pudding. Shop Now: Apilco Deep Oval Roaster, No. 6, $79.95, williams-sonoma.com. 02 of 09 Glass Mixing Bowl Courtesy of Sur La Table A large mixing bowl is exactly what you'll need to hold a cup of cream and a cup of whole milk as well as five eggs—and allow space for whisking the ingredients together without any spills. Shop Now: Duralex Lys Six-Quart Clear Stackable Bowl, $22.50, surlatable.com. 03 of 09 Balloon Whisk Courtesy of Martha.com To combine the eggs, cream, and milk, there's no better tool than a balloon whisk; this sturdy stainless steel one is our recommendation. Shop Now: Sur La Table Stainless Steel Balloon Whisk $9.95, surlatable.com. 04 of 09 Measuring Cups & Spoons Set Courtesy of Macy's Let's be clear, you should never use dry measuring cups for liquids or liquid measuring cups for dry ingredients. You need a set of these dry measuring cups for measuring flour, sugar, rice, and other dry ingredients. And measuring spoons are vital for everything from vanilla extract to spices. Shop Now: Martha Stewart Stainless Steel Measuring Cups, $34, macys.com; Martha Stewart Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons, $19, macys.com. 05 of 09 Liquid Measuring Cups Courtesy of Amazon Remember what we said about dedicated wet and dry measuring cups? These Pyrex measuring cups are a kitchen classic—they're sturdy and the measurements are easy to read. Shop Now: Pyrex Liquid Measuring Cups, $17.89 for three, amazon.com. 06 of 09 Microplane Grater Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma Nothing makes grating orange or lemon zest as easy as a microplane—it's a must-have for any kitchen. Shop Now: Microplane Premium Classic Zester Grater, $15.99, williams-sonoma.com. 07 of 09 Citrus Press Courtesy of Macy's A favorite tool of Martha's, this is her preferred gadget for extracting all the juice from citrus fruits Shop Now: Martha Stewart Collection Citrus Press $17.59, macys.com. 08 of 09 Glass Prep Mixing Bowls Courtesy of Williams Sonoma Like all professionals, Martha measures and organizes ingredients before starting to make a recipe. Small glass bowls like these are used daily as part of her mis en place. Shop Now: Glass Prep Mixing Bowls, $29.95 for eight, williams-sonoma.com. 09 of 09 Ladle Courtesy of Macy's Our founder uses a ladle to pour the custard over the brioche when she's assembling the bread pudding. Shop Now: Martha Stewart Collection Stainless Steel Square Ladle, $13.59, macys.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit