Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe
A Recipe by Lorraine Elliott, adapted from Chef Anthony Musa
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 30 minutes plus 1-2 hours resting time
Cooking time: 75 minutes
Serves: 8
This recipe is best made 1 day ahead of time
Ingredients Needed
For Custard
- 750ml/3 cups/25fl oz thickened or double cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 8 egg yolks
- 190g/6.7oz caster or superfine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For Pudding
- 420g/15oz sourdough bread
- 240g/1 cup melted butter
- 1 cup/140g/5oz currants
- 1 cup/140g/5oz sultanas or raisins
To Finish
- 2-3 tablespoons icing or powdered sugar
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 CUSTARD - Heat the cream and vanilla in a saucepan until simmering. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a mixer until thick and fluffy. Gradually pour the hot cream into the egg mixture in 5-6 lots whisking well. Set aside to cool completely (if in a hurry, place in an ice bath for 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so). This can be made the night before.
Step 2 BUILD - Have a 27x19x6cms/10.6x7.5x2.4inch baking dish plus a larger baking dish for the bain marie ready (a larger dish with high sides). Slice the bread very thinly. You want it sliced around 0.5cm/0.2 inches in thickness. If the bread is very large, cut in half. Brush bread with the melted butter on both sides and scatter the currants and sultanas evenly over the layers and repeat with the remaining bread. Pour over the cooled custard allowing it to soak up for at least 1 hour (2 hours is ideal). You may have to add some every 30 minutes or so and you may not be able to add all of the custard in and. Press down on the top with a spatula every 10 minutes to ensure the top layer is also soaked.
Step 3 BAKE - Preheat oven to 160C/320F fan forced or 180C/350F conventional. Cover with parchment and then cover with foil. Bring a kettleful of water to the boil and place the baking dish in a larger baking dish. Pour boiling water halfway up the side to make a water bath and then gently slide the tray into the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight, weighing the pudding down with a platter and cans or containers of food.
Step 4 BRULEE - Slice the pudding into squares and place on a parchment lined tray. Reheat in an oven at 160C/320F fan forced or 180C/350F conventional for 15 minutes. Place slices on plates and sieve icing sugar on top of the pudding. Brulee with a blowtorch and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Personal Note
This recipe is all about winter and comfort and I made this just after June started and we needed a bit of winter warming.
I mentioned before, how I had to stay inside because I got laser done on my skin (which is also something I waited until winter to do). You are supposed to stay indoors for a fortnight but on day 10 I had to go away to the Hunter Valley for work. I wasn't sure how much outdoor activity there would be. Usually it's going to restaurants but there was a bit of outdoor time so I had to bring along an enormous hat. This hat was so enormous it almost has a postcode of its own.
I was with a group of seven writers and every where I went, my hat cut off all peripheral vision so I would accidentally ignore everyone that was near me. It is the perfect hat for anyone that wants to ignore people or not talk to people but for me I felt like I was missing out on everything and blocking everyone from me! And over lunch and dinner I had to lift the enormous sides of the hat so that I could see the person next to me! However some people said that it would be the perfect hat for them as they often didn't feel like talking to people.
So tell me Dear Reader, would you like a hat that hid you away? And do you like bread and butter pudding?