traditional bread + butter pudding

I’m sitting here with a boiling hot cuppa enjoying some cold leftover bread and butter pudding. WOW! I don’t think there could be any better ‘special treat’ afternoon tea. My grandma Mim used to make this pudding often and I loved helping her butter the bread. I used to pick out the sultanas then, and I still do so now.

This is the traditional bread and butter pudding recipe, the same as the one your grandmother would of made. There is no fancy pants brioche, panettone or croissants used – just some humble old sliced white bread and a couple of ‘tarni’s’ emcompassed in a delicious homemade custard. My good friend Joffrey reckons that his only memories of bread and butter pudding were from boarding school. And let me tell you, he didn’t go much on the food he ate at boarding school. I’ll have to invite Joffrey and Gen round for dinner soon to see if I can convince him.

My best mates’ dad was in town for work recently and came round for dinner. I made this pud to finish off a delicious beef pot pie (recipe to come). We all agreed that it was just as good as how we remembered it growing up. (Luckily, unlike Joffrey, we had fond memories of it). The pudding wasn’t too sweet, the custard was really light and airy and the toasted bread on top just topped it off nicely.

Bread and butter pudding is a tried and tested recipe, using ingredients that are affordable and easy to get your hands on. If you’ve never tasted it before and have friends coming round for dinner soon, give it a go. And if you’re lucky, there will be some left over.

Sometimes all we need is a little bit of nostalgia.

traditional bread + butter pudding (serves 4 – 6)

7 x pieces of white bread
A couple of dessert spoons of soft butter
1 x small handful of sultanas
Nutmeg, for sprinkling lightly over the top

custard
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 x cups of thickened cream
1/3 cup of castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 140℃. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter.
Remove crusts from the bread and butter each piece on one side generously.
Cut the bread in to quarters and layer them, slightly overlapping each other in the ovenproof dish.
Sprinkle the handful of sultanas over the top and give it a dusting of nutmeg. Set aside.
In a medium sized saucepan, bring the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla together, stirring every now and then, to the boil. Remove from heat as soon as you start to see bubbles forming.
In a clean mixing bowl, crack the eggs in and give them a good stir using a whisk.
Gradually, pour the heated milk mixture in to the eggs, whilst continually mixing. Really go to town on it.
Very slowly and gently, pour the custard in to the ovenproof dish, on top of the bread. (You can sprinkle a little more nutmeg here if you need to).
Now place the dish inside a large baking tray and pour some boiling water from the kettle in to the baking dish so that it comes halfway up the ovenproof dish. (See pic below).
Bake in the low oven for approximately 30 – 40 minutes or until browned on top and the custard is set.

Lo’s tips

Make sure that whatever dish you use to make the bread and butter pudding in, you have a large baking dish big enough to hold it.
The exact number of pieces of bread that you’ll need to fill the dish depends on the size of the loaf of bread and the size of your dish. Don’t worry bout it too much – you don’t need to be too precise with it.
I pop this in the oven when sitting down to eat the main meal when I have friends over.
It can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days – just pop some glad wrap over the top.