Paximade and Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Although I have not been to Veggie Planet in Cambridge, I have always heard really good things about it. Thus, I bought the cookbook yesterday and made yummy and delicious things today. I loved all of them. I made Paximade, a Greek bread, and Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Yum yum yum. Everyone should buy this cookbook.

Paximade
This Greek bread, perfumed with anise, tastes almost like a cake, although the sugar content is much lower. You can keep this bread for days, toasting it for breakfast morning after morning.
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspon salt
1 teaspoon anise seed; or 2 star anise, ground in a spice mill
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole or low-fat milk [I used skim]
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9-by-5-by3 inch loaf pan. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the anise to the flour mixture.
2) In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add an egg, beat well, then add the other egg. Beat until the mixture lightens in color, about 1 minute. Add the milk and the sifted flour mixture alternately, the flour in three parts and the milk in two. Fold with a rubber spatula until they are incorporated. Spoon the batter into the loaf pan.
3) Bake the bread for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan 10 minutes before inverting the loaf onto a rack. When teh bread has cooled completely, wrap it well in plastic. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. (After the second day, toast the bread to revive it). Makes 1 loaf.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
About 1/2 a baguette, cut into 2-inch-thick slices [I used challah. Yummy.]
3 extra-large eggs
3 1/2 cups whole or low-fat milk [I used skim.]
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg [I used the preground stuff.]
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, or 2 teaspons ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup baked pumpkin flesh or canned pumpkin puree [I used the canned stuff, obviously.]
3/4 cup brown sugar
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a 10-by-13 inch baking dish with a single layer of the sliced bread. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, white sugar, and pumpkin. (If you are using fresh pumpkin, the pumpkin will be somewhat lumpy.) Pour this mixture over the bread slices. Push down the bread slices so they soak up the liquid. Let them soak for 10 minutes.
2) Bake the pudding in the lower third of the over for 45 to 50 minute, until a knife inserted into the pudding comes out clean. Let the pudding cool for 10 minutes.
3) Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the pudding. Place the pudding under the broiler, keeping the oven door slightlyopen. Keeping close watch, broil the sugar until it begins to bubble. Remove the pudding and let cool.