When I cooked at the Union Square Café, the pastry chef, whose name was Laura, used to treat the staff to day-old desserts at the end of the “family meal” that preceded lunch service. When Laura brought out plates loaded with the pumpkin bread which she used in her popular pumpkin bread pudding we all cheered, and the pumpkin bread disappeared almost instantaneously.

I was so glad when I found the recipe for the pumpkin bread pudding in USC’s first cookbook. I don’t make the pudding, just the bread. I’ve modified the recipe to resemble the original loaf Laura used to bake—without the raisins and rum—and scaled it up to make three loaves for school and swim team bake sales. An all-time family favorite.