Titi Magüi was my “tia-abuela”, my grandma’s sister.  She never had children of her own, but she was always a constant in our lives, like a third grandmother.  As a little girl, she would babysit me so that my parents could go to the movies (I was an only child for 7 years).  Also, I remember that she gave me my first lipstick, let me drive without a driver’s license and told me my first dirty joke.  Her stories and adventures from the 25 years she lived as a working single woman in New York City during the 50’s and 60’s were legendary.  At age 42, she married, but her happiness was short lived since her husband became ill and died 7 years after.  From the moment she relocated to Puerto Rico in the early 70’s, she would visit us every afternoon and would bring with her fresh bread and milk.  Sometimes, she would go pick us up at school. Everyone, from the gas station attendant, the baker and the street fresh produce vendor in our neighborhood would call her “Titi”  (auntie).  All of my friends did too.  She never missed a birthday, a Christmas card or what I liked the most, a weekly delivery of one of her cooking specialties, whether it was sorullitos de maíz, ropa vieja, chicken noodle soup or her famous bread pudding.

Titi Magüi passed away exactly 2 years ago at 87, but her stories, jokes and recipes still live among us.  Here I share with you Tití’s delicious bread pudding recipe which she prepared for us with so much love.  She always made it in a metal ring mold, but I also use a 13×10 inch rectangle ceramic oven mold. I admit that although I made it with her many times to write down the amounts of ingredients (with she added without measuring), mine never tastes as good as hers…

Enjoy!

Titi Magüi’s Bread Pudding

Ingredients

1 pound of club sandwich bread (you may use your choice of bread if you want to be creative or what you have at hand)

1 12 ounce can of evaporated milk

6 cups of milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tazas de azúcar

1 stick of  butter, melted (1/4 pound) plus more to grease pan

6 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 pinch of salt

1/2 cup of raisins

2 tsp powdered cinnamon

Procedure

1.  Pre-heat oven to 400ºF.  Place bread in a large bowl and soak with milks.  Break down bread pieces with large spoon and add rest of ingredients.

2.  Once all ingredients are incorporated, pour into buttered 15×10 inch pan.  Place into oven and immediately lower to 350ºF to bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the mold and how thick the pudding is. Let cool and serve as dessert or with coffee or tea.