PANETTONE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

My heart lifts when I think about bread and butter pudding. It’s such a comforting dish – a hug in a bowl. Here I’ve made a lighter version using the Italian Christmas classic, panettone. You only need half or three-quarters of a cake, which leaves the rest for another day.

SERVES 6-8

50g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing 750g panettone 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 300ml full-fat milk 100ml double cream 2 eggs 100g golden caster sugar 25g demerara sugar custard, cream or ice cream, to serve

YOU WILL NEED

a 30cm oval or rectangular pie dish or ceramic roasting dish

Grease the pie dish with butter. Slice the panettone into quarters, then each quarter into roughly 1.5cm-thick slices.

Put a layer of panettone in the bottom of the greased dish, then brush the layer with melted butter. Sprinkle over some of the cinnamon and nutmeg, then repeat the process. Keep going until you have three layers of panettone triangles.

Warm the milk and cream together in a saucepan over a low heat, but don’t let it boil.

Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together in a bowl until light and pale, then slowly pour this into the cream mixture over a very low heat, stirring constantly until fully combined.

Pour the custard over the panettone. At this point, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ gas 4. Allow the pudding to rest while the oven heats up.

Pop the pudding in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Sprinkle with the crunchy demerara sugar and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Serve warm with your choice of custard, cream or ice cream.