Banana & tahini bread & butter pudding

Not everyone is a fan of raisins, so I wondered what else I could add to a classic bread and butter pud. I instantly thought of banana – pillowy and sweet, and eternal friend to honey and cinnamon, they work beautifully in this comfort-food classic. The earthy sesame flavour of tahini grounds the sweetness for an added twist.

Serves 6

50g butter, plus extra for the tin 8 slices slightly stale white bread 100g tahini

2 large bananas, sliced on

the diagonal demerara sugar, for the topping 1 tbsp sesame seeds

FOR THE CUSTARD

300ml whole milk

250ml double cream

3 large eggs

3 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp runny honey

1 tbsp tahini

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra

for dusting

1 Butter a 20cm x 25cm baking dish. To make the custard, put the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat over a gentle heat until almost boiling. 2 Meanwhile, in a heatproof jug, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then add the honey, tahini, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk again. 3 Gradually pour the hot milk and cream into the jug, whisking all the time so the eggs are tempered and don’t curdle. Keep whisking until all the liquid is added and the honey and tahini have dissolved, then set aside.

4 Slice the crusts off the bread and slice diagonally into triangles. Spread each triangle with butter and layer half over the base of the baking dish. Drizzle half the tahini over the bread. Lay the banana slices on top, then repeat by placing the remaining bread on top of the bananas, and drizzling over the remaining tahini. Pour the custard over the bread, then set aside for 30 mins for the custard to soak into the bread. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

5 Sprinkle the top of the pudding generously with the demerara sugar, the sesame seeds and a pinch of cinnamon. Bake for about 40 mins, until the top of the pudding is golden and it is risen slightly.