Bread and butter pudding with ricotta and chocolate

Bread and butter pudding is pure comfort. We like it with ice-cream – that combination of hot and cold is hard to beat. Prepare it ahead and have it ready to go in the oven when it’s time for dessert.

Prep time 20 mins, cook 30 mins (plus soaking)

Serves 8

400 ml milk

350 ml pouring cream

1 vanilla bean, spilt and seeds scraped

7 egg yolks

150 gm caster sugar

1½ small (650gm each) sourdough fruit loaves, unsliced

150 gm firm ricotta

140 gm dark chocolate (65%-70% cocoa solids) Finely grated rind of 1 orange Dutch-process cocoa, for dusting

1 Bring milk, cream and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale. Add hot milk mixture, stirring to combine well, then cool

(15-20 minutes).

2 Cut ends off loaves and thickly slice bread.

Cut each slice in half diagonally, then brush with custard to moisten. Arrange bread in a 2-litre baking dish, crust sides up. Pour remaining custard over the top and stand, occasionally pressing down lightly so bread absorbs custard (30-40 minutes).

3 Preheat oven to 160C. Dot ricotta and chocolate over the bread, scatter with orange rind and bake until golden on top and custard is thick and set (30-35 minutes; cover with foil if top starts to brown too much). Serve warm.>