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Julia Watson gives thanks for the classic chic of bread-and-butter puddings

Bread-and-butter pudding is one of those dishes that, in one form or another, shows up in kitchens right across Europe. This makes it the kind of classic dish, like fish pie, cassoulet and Lancashire hotpot, that attracts enough respect from professional cooks to cross over from the home and show up on chic menus in glitzy restaurants like The Ivy.

It is made every possible way, from the fairly wodgy pudding that emerges when layers of sliced bread are only slightly moistened with custard – a version somewhat reminiscent of school dinners – to a pudding in which the bread almost melts into its surrounding egg cream. One of American gourmet James Beard’s favourite versions had slices of buttered French bread marooned on top of the baked custard. Anton Mossiman may have been the first top chef in England to have put the classic raisin-studded, nutmeg-custard-soaked bread confection on his menu, in the days when he starred at The Dorchester Hotel in London.

If people have a poor opinion of this pudding, it is probably because they’ve only had it as a cold slab from a sandwich shop – bread-and-butter pudding should never be eaten cold – or because of a lack of contrast between custard and crust. The sauce needs silkiness, so that the wobble isn’t as solid as a jelly, and you need a bit of chew, so the bread is important. The best bread for this soothing pudding is probably a dense white sandwich loaf.

Next pages:
Classic Bread Pudding
Chocolate Chip Muffin Pudding

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