Meredith Lindemon
Food and Drink Reporter
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Compared to the James River and the Civil War, bread pudding is probably the most unsung of central- and eastern-Virginia’s historical heroes.
The origin story of the dessert in America starts with a recipe — specifically, one that is found in “The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion” by Eliza Smith. This book on English cookery was brought over to the future United States of America by the Colonists, and first published in Williamsburg, Va., in 1742.
Another interesting bit of historical food trivia: Thomas Jefferson, a Tuckahoe native, had a collection of essays containing three different recipes for bread pudding. The man was apparently a lover of the Old-World staple.
Later, in 1824, the “The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook” by Mary Randolph was published and is widely considered to be the first American cookbook, written right here in Richmond. Guess what? It includes a page dedicated to bread pudding — and the author is credited as the source of the denser-style bread pudding that’s rich and crumb-y, and representative of the styles of cooking popular in Colonial America.
OK — fast forward to today, and the dessert finds itself fashionable at Christmas and New Year’s and enjoys staying power on upscale restaurants’ dessert menus. And in Virginia State University’s campus cafeteria.
At the Gateway Dining Hall, the colonist-fave confection is a huge hit with contemporary students — so much so that baker Racquél Davis has to double the recipe on a regular weekday.
“The bread pudding is high on the list to make double of. It sells out,” said Davis. “I have different variations — I like to experiment, and the head chef allows me to be creative. If I have extra mix from the strawberry cobbler that I made, I will mix it in with the bread pudding mix and make it that way.”
And not only are the students crazy about it, her colleagues are also super fans.
“My colleagues love it — they say they’re going to fight over my bread pudding,” said Davis. “I was thinking that I should add this to [the Treats 4 a Cause] menu and see how it goes. This weekend was my first weekend making bread pudding from my business and delivering it.”
A bit of background on the Petersbug-based Davis: Shortly after COVID, she began cooking out of her kitchen at home, selling baked goods that also raise awareness of an inherited disorder through her business, Treats 4 a Cause.
“I found out when I was pregnant with my daughter that I had the sickle cell trait,” said Davis. “I didn’t know much about it and my peers didn’t seem to know too much about it either. I started dabbling in baking and posting pictures and people started to ask how much I charge. The Lord gave me a vision — that I should merge whatever I bake into also providing information about sickle cell.”
(Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders, where red blood cells are abnormally shaped like a “sickle” or crescent.)
This past weekend, Davis started making the campus-approved bread pudding in her home bakery, and then delivered the desserts to clients who ordered from Davis by Instagram message.
The bread pudding comes in plain, strawberry, blueberry, mango and other fruit-based concoctions found on the dining hall menu, with the addition of rum raisin, which is not on the school menu. It comes in personal-sized ($6 to $8) and family-sized ($23 to $25) options, prepared in disposable tin foil baking pans.
“It’s the same as the one I do at Virginia State,” said Davis. “The only difference is that I make my own vanilla extract at home, as compared to using the store-bought extract at the [school]. I also don’t use store-bought glaze—I make my own and put it on top of the bread pudding. I try to give people what I would want.”
To order, send a message through her Instagram profile.