Recipes for Desserts

Bread and Butter Pudding

Another one of my childhood favourites. My mother would quite happily leave me to make this dish on my own as a child!
This pudding is so very easy to make and can be eaten hot or cold, with custard or on its own. I enjoy it on its own! It's very filling and fattening but lovely!
I don't actually know the history of this dish but it is excellent for finishing off a loaf of bread that might otherwise be wasted.

*Suitable for vegetarians (depending on what butter is used) but not recommended for people who avoid dairy or eggs.
Also, if you have a nut allergy you can leave out almonds if you choose to make the luxury version!

#You will need

Butter Knife, Bread board,
A whisk, a measuring jug, a teaspoon (sprinkle the sugar),
A Pyrex or oven proof dish (preferably without a lid)
Or if you want smaller, individual portions use small dishes. I find Soufle' dishes are excellent for individual portions.

#Ingreedients

Sliced bread - I use value as that is good enough.
2 eggs,
568ml (1pint) milk,
Currants and raisins,
Butter - it is best to use real or slab butter here as tub butter doesn't work well as it is too oily and plastic to be absorbed into the pudding.
As much sugar as your teeth can bite!

~For a luxury version (same ingredients as normal mix but add the following...)

Use 1/2 pint milk and 100ml 4flz of cream,
Almonds,
Tiny splash of vanila essence,
Apricot pieces
A tiny sprinkle of mixed Spice or if thats not available I use a tiny sprinkle of Nutmeg and a little larger sprinkle of Ground Cinammon.

#What to do

1. Butter the slices of bread and cut the crusts off. Keep the crusts as they come in handy to use later.

2. Lightly grease the dish /es with a little butter.

3. Cut the buttered bread into small squares and lay butter side up, into the dish. Make sure all of the dish is hidden by the bread.

4. After one layer of bread and butter, sprinkle the dried fruits over, then sprinkle as much sugar as you want over the fruits (raisins or nuts etc.)

5. Repeat point 3. again so you have a double layer.

6. Repeat point 4. again so there's fruit and sugar on the top.

7. Use some of the crusts or some buttered squares to slot in the edges where the squares have not met the sides of the dish.
(Should be no gaps)

*CAUTION, if your oven dishes are not very high its best to stop at the second layer as the pudding rises a lot during the cooking! There's been so many times I've been carried away and continued the layers to the very top of the dish, and my pudding has escaped over the edge!

8. Mix the milk and the eggs in the jug and whisk away! (if you are making the luxury version, here's where you add the other ingreedients.)

9. Gently pour over all of the pudding until all the pieces of bread have liquid on them. If you have chosen a massive family oven dish and there's not enough liquid, add more milk over the pudding.

10. Cover the pudding (lid or a plate) and leave for 30 minutes for the bread to absorb the liquid.

11. After the half hour, put the oven on at about 170 degrees / 325 fahrenheit. Bake for about 40 minutes.

12. Check after a lengthy time in the oven that the pudding has risen. If it has and it looks like it will spill everywhere, open the door and pull it out for a minute. Poke it with a fork and it should swell back down! If it hasn't risen and still looks like a wet mess, turn the oven up a little higher and leave in longer.

13. The finished pudding should resemble a lightly toasted currant loaf. Golden brown in colour and crisped edges but the inside should be squidgy.

*I burned it for the first time since making this review!

After an hour it should be ready to serve. Leave it stand for a good few minutes before eating.
Try it hot but watch those raisins, they are very hot indeed. Try it with custard if you like but I guarantee you its lovely on its own!
The great thing about this dish is that once its cooled on the worktop, you can put it in the frigde and it will keep for a good 2 days. You can eat it straight out of the frigde or pop it in the microwave to warm up.
You can even put some in tupperware and take it to work.

The beauty of this dish is that you can change the size of the pudding depending on your guests. Just remember to add an extra egg or more milk, and more layers for a larger mealtime.
Or if say, there are 4 guests and you want to make four individual portions. Use the same amound of liquid you would for a whole dish and just share the liquid out.

It will always be a trial and error pudding as you have to think about how big your oven dish is and imagine the layers almost doubled (thats how much it will swell by.)
Ive noticed that by putting a lid on the oven dish while the pudding is cooking only stops the swelling a little bit. I think it's best to leave the lid off.

I hope this recipe has helped - if your too frightened to try the baked version, try a supermarkets fresh version first. Take note on how it looks and smells then hopefully it should give you the confidence to bake your own! Its not hard anyway, as I was making it when I was little!!

Good Luck! Happy baking! yum! :)