Cook’s bread and butter
Quick, easy and tasty: it’s the dessert anyone can make
WINTER is here and what better way to celebrate it than with a warm and cosy custardy bread and butter pudding? Popularised in British cuisine, a traditional bread pudding is made by layering slices of buttered bread, often stale, and scattered dried fruit, usually raisins or sultanas, in an oven dish. An egg custard is then poured over the mixture, which is seasoned with nutmeg, vanilla or other spices.
The earliest bread and butter puddings were called whitepot and used either bone marrow or butter. Whitepots could also be made using rice instead of bread, giving rise to rice pudding.
One of the earliest published recipes for a bread and butter pudding is found in Eliza Smith’s The Compleat Housewife cookery book of 1728.
While bread and butter pudding as we know it today is moist enough to be eaten on its own, some people serve it with custard or cream.
Variations include strawberry or blackberry jam or other marmalades, using fresh grapes instead of dried, adding lemon or orange peel or zest for another layer of flavour or, like my recipe below, using another type of bread like brioche.
Super quick, super easy and super tasty. Enjoy.
Bread and butter pudding
Serves 4–6
INGREDIENTS: ◗ 5 slices thick-cut brioche fruit toast, buttered ◗ 1 cup thickened cream ◗ 1 cup milk ◗ 3 eggs ◗ 2 egg yolks ◗ 1⁄3 cup caster sugar ◗ 1 tsp vanilla bean extract ◗ Zest of 1 orange METHOD: Preheat oven to 140C. Cut bread slices diagonally into triangles and alternately stack them in a loaf tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and orange zest until well combined. Pour mixture over bread and allow to soak for 10 minutes.
Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until slightly jiggly. Place under grill for a further minute to slightly toast the top of the pudding. Toast until desired crunch is achieved.