Bread & Butter Pudding Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 20 minutes resting
Cooking time: 45 minutes plus 10 minutes for custard
Serves: 8 people
Ingredients Needed
- 100g/3.5ozs green raisins
- 80ml/2.8flozs rum
- 550g/1.2lbs butter croissants
- 400ml/14flozs double cream
- 300ml/10.6ozs single, pure or thickened cream
- 3 eggs
- 5 egg yolks
- 180g/6ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 1/3 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 30g/1oz butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 1.5 tablespoons raw or demerara sugar
Madagascan Vanilla Custard
- 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs milk (full cream)
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons caster of superfine sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornflour/fine cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons Madagascan vanilla bean paste
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - Place the raisins and the rum in a microwave proof bowl and microwave for 2 minutes on high. Otherwise place in a small saucepan and heat up gently on low heat so that the raisins plump up and most of the rum evaporates into the fruit. Set aside.
Step 2 - Cut the croissants into inch size pieces. Heat both creams up in a medium saucepan until almost boiling. Meanwhile whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar and salt together in a jug. Once small bubbles appear around the rim of the cream, pour a ladle of cup of cream into the jug of egg mixture and whisk. Repeat with another ladle of hot cream and whisk well. The sugar should now be dissolved - test by feeling the mixture between your fingers. Add the egg mixture in with the rest of the cream and then cook very gently on low heat and allow to thicken a little for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in vanilla bean paste and cinnamon. You don't need this to be too thick.
Step 3 - Place half of the croissant pieces in a baking dish and sprinkle the raisins and any rum over these. Then pour half of the custard on top of this. Then place the remainder of the croissant pieces on top of the other layer and pour the remaining half of the custard. At first it will seem like too much custard but it will soak in. Allow to sit for 10 minutes if the croissants are fresh. If they aren't, allow more time, up to 30-40 minutes for the custard to absorb. You will be able to tell when the custard has pretty much absorbed into the croissants.
Step 4 - Preheat oven to 170C/340F fan forced. Sprinkle the top of the pudding with raw sugar and dot with butter cubes. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Let sit for 40 minutes to set.
Step 5 - 10 minutes before you want to serve it make the custard. Heat the milk in a small saucepan on the stove on medium heat until almost boiling. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together in a jug and then add a ladle of the hot milk into this (similar to how you made the custard for the pudding). Whisk to loosen this up and then add another 1/4 cup of milk and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
Step 6 - Add the egg milk mixture back to the pot with the remaining milk and stir and cook gently in low heat for 10 minutes stirring frequently to prevent it catching. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the vanilla and serve with squares of the pudding.
Personal Note
I once bought a huge amount of vanilla beans back home from overseas until I found a good source for them. And then after that I sort of transitioned from making my own vanilla extract to just using a vanilla bean paste, just for convenience sake. I'm sort of relieved because I didn't have the luggage space to spare! There's some sort of pride with travel writers that whoever has the lightest or smallest luggage is winning the imaginary competition. Everyone notices and compliments them and wonders how they manage to travel with so little. You get even more points if you can fit everything into a carry-on.
When I recently went to Switzerland and travelled with a large group of media my luggage was always the biggest and the heaviest. I like to say that it's because I had to travel the farthest but realistically it's because I get cold really easily so I brought lots of layers and I also brought along all the accoutrements for a good night's sleep.
I love my sleep. I need a lot of it and 99% of the time I sleep like a baby. But in order to get this restful sleep I need a few things to go right: I need my own pillow and I need a humidifier. And I also need soft sheets but I draw the line at bringing my own sheets. But when I told the group that I had a humidifier in my luggage they fell about laughing. I think they thought I had a giant humidifier in there (and that would certainly explains the big, heavy luggage). Mine is a tiny one about the size and shape of a tin of tomatoes (but much lighter)! But I liked the idea of them thinking that I had a massive one in my luggage!
So tell me Dear Reader, what is something that you need to take with you when you travel? What is the funniest thing that you've brought back in your luggage?
This post contains affiliate links. These help earn me a small commission at no added cost to you.