It is way too hot out. Unbearably so. So hot that I went home for the weekend largely because it would include the ability to sit indoors with central air (and to see my lovely family, of course).

So I understand if you saw that the blog this week involved turning on your oven and immediately closed the browser. It is true, I had the luxury of baking in a kitchen where I did not feel like I was going to melt. But don’t run away from this one just yet!

Most of the prep can be done without the oven on. And the baking itself only takes 30 minutes. If you really don’t think it’s doable this week, at least save this recipe for when New England weather starts behaving itself again – it really is not to be missed. In fact, my mom said is was the best thing I’ve ever made.

Now, I don’t think I’d go that far, but lemon and blueberry do make a pretty excellent light summer combination. Also, I will say this is the freshest bread pudding I’ve ever made. Not too heavy with fresh white bread, fresh blueberries, and lemon zest. Nothing about this is your middle-of-winter-in-front-of-a-fire bread pudding. Or even your crisp-fall-afternoon bread pudding. (At some point I’m going to have to make a spring bread pudding to round out the list).

First, cut seven quarter-inch slices from the round country white loaf and remove the crusts. Spread one side of each slice with butter and lemon curd.Pro tip: those little pieces of crust taste delicious dipped in the lemon curd. And they’re end pieces so they don’t have any calories.

Cut the bread into small triangles and layer about half of the pieces on the bottom of a 1.5 liter baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the blueberries.Repeat with the remaining bread slices and remaining blueberries.In a medium bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, whole milk, eggs, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Pour over the bread and push down with a spatula. Allow to soak for at least five minutes, pushing down bread occasionally.Place dish in a roasting pan and fill about halfway up the sides with just boiled water.Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until puffs up and turns golden.And that’s it! I told you it was not a ton of oven time. Remove it from the roasting pan and allow to rest at least 5 minutes before serving.We dug right in, but I think the pudding could have benefited from some fridge time once it came to room temperature – it was definitely still on the liquid side of pudding when I was eating it.

Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 small, fresh loaf country white bread
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 tablespoons lemon curd
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Cut 7 quarter-inch slices of bread and remove crusts.
2. Spread one side of each slice generously with butter and lemon curd.
3. Cut into small triangles. Layer half of the bread pieces in the bottom of a 1.5 liter baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the blueberries. Repeat with remaining bread and blueberries.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together heavy cream, whole milk, eggs, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth.
5. Pour over bread and push down with rubber spatula. Allow to soak 5 minutes while pushing down bread occasionally.
6. Place baking dish in roasting pan and fill halfway up the sides with boiling water.
7. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes until puffs up and turns golden brown. Remove from roasting pan and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving warm.