Leftover Pudding with dates filling

After each holiday season, people around the world are facing one big issue. What the hell to do with all those leftover food? Usually we ended up making sandwiches with cold, leftover ham and turkey, making a pan fried potatoes for evening snack with dinner potatoes, baking mac' and cheese with leftover veggies.

But when you ending up with leftover cakes your are in troubles. Of course you could take it to work and share with your co-workers or grab and visit your distant relative ("No, nothing wrong happened - i just missed you SO MUCH ! And I brought you a present - It's a cake !") but why not spending few minutes and turn your not-so-fresh from the oven-babka into gorgeous, seductive pudding? Since i had almost full bag of dried dates i decided to make the one with a filling. Sweet!

Pudding with dates filling :

some leftover babka ( you can use some sweet bread, like croissant, also) - mine was about 300 gram

cup of full-fat milk

80 grams dried dates

1 pear

2 teaspoon of butter ( for your apricot )

2 teaspoon of sugar

2-3 tablespoon of cream

butter and sugar for your tins 

Preheat oven 200C/390F

Prepare pear. Cut it in small pieces (you can take off skin if you want but i left mine). Take a pan with thick bottom and put 2 teaspoon of butter. Heat until it melt and put your chopped pear. Fry for 10-15 minutes (after first few minutes add 2 teaspoon of sugar) until it will be somewhere between soft mousse with chunky pieces and filling for tart. Cool dawn. Take a boiling water and soak your dates (you can add some rose or pear syrup if you have). Strain and mix with cooled pear. That's your filling.

Cut your babka into slices and pour with milk - you want it to be soaked but not wet completely so be careful ( it's the same method like with tiramisu and its biscuits soaked with espresso).

Take your tins - butter and sugar them. Now you take a slice and put on a bottom and take 2-3 slices to put around. Put your filling  inside and cover with last slice to make closed space. Pour your pudding tin with cream and butter. Make as many as many babka you have. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and will rinse a little.

You can also make a sauce with leftover pear mousse and heavy cream.