Adventures in baking- bread pudding

So, I'm a self taught baker, you could say, and I have a few favorite things to bake. One of them that has been problematic is the bread pudding. The dish is really yummy (almost) every time I make it. There's meringue on top and jam/berries on the bottom with bread pudding yumminess in between. Or there should be, anyway.

Sometimes the bread pudding comes out like a custard or a flan. Yesterday I had to cook the thing for 2 hours before it was any approximation of set. Of course I thought that the pudding was ready 1 hour previously and like the good chef I am I whipped up the meringue. If you passed elementary math and know that 2-1=1, the meringue has now been sitting around for an HOUR waiting to be baked. Let's just say that meringue is about as patient as I am for chocolate when I'm pms-ing.

The meringue did a very interesting thing. First, while it was cooking it puffed up to about 3X it's previous size, growing into the meringue monster from outer space and reaching up to rub shoulders with the filaments in my small oven. Then, after I rescued it from itself it shrank down into a tiny meringue patty.

This is what I get for making the meringue wait.

On the upside, I finally bought an electric mixer. For everyone who's eaten my meringue they've eaten the hubby's sore forearm from whisking that meringue into existence through pure willpower and determination. I think he cried tears of joy inside when I showed him the new addition to our tiny tiny kitchen and our many appliances. So, next time when I time it all right, my meringue will look like this:


Now all I have to do it eat. Mmmm.