Our daily bread

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.

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Classic Bread Pudding
Chocolate Chip Muffin Pudding

Classic Bread Pudding
Serves 8-10

12 slices white bread with crusts, about 1cm thick, buttered
100g raisins, plumped in 3 tbsp dark rum or brandy
4 large eggs, plus 1 large yolk
70g sugar
600ml milk
600ml double cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt

Sugar topping
2 tbsp caster sugar
¼ tsp grated nutmeg

  1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3.
  2. Mix the topping ingredients together and set aside.
  3. Butter a 33 x 22cm baking dish. Lay one layer of bread in the bottom and scatter the raisins over, then repeat.
  4. In a bowl, whisk all the other ingredients and pour over the bread. Leave to stand for 10 minutes till it has seeped right down. Sprinkle the topping over, and bake for 45 minutes till golden and rising up the edges of the pan.
  5. So that it doesn’t set like a custard tart, take it out when the centre wobbles a little when shaken and a knife in the middle comes out coated with half-set cream. It will continue to cook as it cools in a warm place for about 35 minutes. Then serve warm.

Variations

  • Add 115g chopped walnuts with the raisins.
  • Instead of walnuts and raisins, include 20g each of candied orange peel and candied pineapple, chopped finely.
  • For a chocolate version, add 2 tbsp good cocoa to the custard.

Method variation
Reserve 2 slices of bread and butter one side with melted butter. Cut the rest into cubes about 1cm thick by 4cm square and allow to steep in the custard mix for 20 minutes before pouring into the baking dish. Cut the remaining slices into triangles and lay over the pudding. Push down gently to partially submerge and scatter the sugar on top for a crusty brown finish.

Chocolate Chip Muffin Pudding
Serves 6

This can be adapted to any leftover fairy cakes, Madeira cake, croissants, pains-au-chocolat, or almond Danish pastries.

6 muffins or fairy cakes, or 4 stale croissants or pastries, thickly sliced
500ml double cream
500ml milk
4 large eggs
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
  2. Butter an ovenproof dish. Lay the muffin slices in the dish.
  3. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the muffins. Leave for 10 minutes to seep through, then bake for 30-40 minutes till gold.

Variations

  • For a fruit version, use fairy cakes or slices of Madeira or vanilla sponge sprinkled with raspberries or blueberries.
  • Try making a ginger pudding with slices of gooey gingerbread, and use 1 tsp ground ginger instead of the vanilla.
  • For a lemon pudding, soak some slices of leftover lemon cake, Madeira or vanilla loaf in lemon juice and add some lemon or lime zest to the custard.