BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING WITH RHUBARB

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Serves 4-6

Back in my days at The Dorchester hotel, working under Anton Mosimann, I have vivid memories of the bread and butter pudding produced in the pastry kitchen. It was more like an egg-custard soufflé cooked in a deep dish and it converted me from the pudding my grandmother used to cook – one that was mostly bread with some crispy raisins on top.

INGREDIENTS For the bread and butter pudding

– 4 slices of bread or brioche, quartered and lightly buttered

– 400ml double cream

– 300ml milk

– 4 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks

– 60g caster sugar

For the rhubarb sauce

– 300ml orange juice

– 30g caster sugar

– 2 tsp cornflour diluted

in a little cold water

– a couple of sticks of rhubarb, trimmed and cut into rough 1cm cubes

METHOD Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas mark 3. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish measuring about

22 x 16cm and roughly 5-6cm deep with melted butter. Arrange the pieces of bread, overlapping with the points up and covering the whole dish.

Bring the cream and milk to the boil. Mix the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together then pour the milk and cream over the egg mixture and whisk until well combined. Carefully pour this over the pieces of bread, rearranging them if necessary.

You’ll need a deep tray such as a roasting pan, larger than the pudding dish, to use as a bain-marie. Place the pudding dish in the tray and pour in boiling water three quarters of the way up the dish. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the custard has just set. Remove from the tray and leave to cool a little.

Meanwhile, make the rhubarb sauce: bring the orange juice and sugar to the boil, then stir in enough of the cornflour to make a thick sauce and simmer for a minute or so.

Add the pieces of rhubarb and bring back to the boil, stirring, then remove from the heat and cover with a lid or cling film. Leave to cool. The rhubarb should be just cooked. If the sauce is too thick, dilute with a little water.

Brush some of the rhubarb sauce over the bread and butter pudding to glaze it. To serve, cut the pudding into rough squares and carefully transfer to serving plates, then spoon on the rhubarb sauce.