Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Cardamom Whipped Cream

Sweet potato bread pudding is a warm and cozy fall and winter dessert that's easy to make! Comforting and mildly sweet, serve this simple dessert with a big dollop of fresh cardamom whipped cream for a real treat.

(This recipe was originally published in November 2010, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021).

The great thing about bread pudding is that it is not only so comforting, but it's so versatile! You can get very creative and use different types of bread, whatever milk you have on hand, and try different flavor combinations.

This rustic sweet potato bread pudding is perfect for fall and winter. In addition to the mildly sweet custard, a bit of ground cardamom really elevates the dish to something special. It's used both in the bread pudding itself and in the whipped cream which garnishes it.

The little black specks of cardamom in the whipped cream look almost like fresh vanilla bean, but instead offer a completely unexpected twist. It provides a great background note that doesn't overwhelm the dish.

Ingredient notes

• Bread: You can make sweet potato bread pudding with or without the crusts left on the bread. The type of bread is very flexible. Use regular white bread, crustier Italian bread, challah, brioche, sweet rolls, and more. For these photos I use Portuguese sweet bread but often opt for crusty Italian bread (and I leave the crusts on). If your bread isn’t very stale, cut it into cubes and allow the bread cubes to dry out at room temperature all day or overnight. Alternatively, lightly toast them on a sheet pan in a 350°F oven until dry, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Sweet Potato Puree: Is it a sweet potato or a yam? In the United States the names are often used interchangeably although technically they aren't always used correctly. For your sweet potato puree use thin-skinned sweet potatoes with orange flesh (sometimes labeled "yams" in supermarkets). In the past I have also made this with Okinawan purple sweet potatoes which work great and yield a gorgeous purple color! Roast your sweet potatoes at 400°F for about 50 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork. Then peel and puree until smooth.
• Milk: You could use any kind of milk for this recipe. I usually use a low-fat milk which works great because the sweet potato puree actually helps thicken it up. The higher the fat content of the milk, the richer your bread pudding will taste.

How to make it

Place the oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and arrange the stale bread cubes in the dish.

Whisk the sweet potato puree, brown sugar, eggs, cardamom, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Then whisk in the milk until well-combined and smooth (PHOTOS 1-2).

Pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes in the baking dish, pressing down with your hands or the back of a spoon, making sure that all the bread gets submerged and starts soaking in the custard.

Soak for 10 to 15 minutes and then put the baking dish in the oven. Bake until the filling is set and the top is lightly browned and crusted, about 45 to 50 minutes. The best visual queue for doneness is when the bread pudding puffs up evenly. It will deflate as it cools.

Meanwhile, beat the heavy cream to medium peaks. Beat in the sugar and ground cardamom to medium-stiff peaks. Serve the bread pudding warm with fresh cardamom whipped cream.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Expert tips

I usually cut my bread pudding into squares to serve but you could scoop it up for a more rustic look. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a few days. Reheat leftover pieces in a 350°F oven until heated through.

You can easily replace the sweet potato puree with pumpkin puree to make pumpkin bread pudding. The same spices will work, but you may also increase the cinnamon in that case and add some other warm fall spices like ground cloves, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg.

I usually measure my bread cubes in volume rather than weight because different types of bread have various densities and can weigh very differently. If your bread is very dense (like rustic artisan bread or French bread) you may want to give it extra time to soak in the custard thoroughly before baking. The sweet bread I use in these photos is light and fluffy and doesn't require much time at all.

Other recipes you may like

• Strawberry Cheesecake Bread Pudding
• S'mores Bread Pudding
• Kirschenmichel (German Bread Pudding with Cherries)
• Pear Ginger Oatmeal Crumb Pie
• Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie
• Tarte aux Pommes (French Apple Tart)
• Apfelstrudel (Austrian Apple Strudel)
• Topfenstrudel (Quark Strudel / Cheese Strudel)
• Cranberry Curd Tart
• Cranberry Goat Cheese Log

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