The Best Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe Ever!

A sure fire winner for those with a sweet-tooth. My take on a traditional bread and butter pudding recipe using choc-chip brioche bread for extra deliciousness!

Bread and butter pudding is a very old and traditional recipe, it is reputed have been around since the 11th century. It is thought to be a traditional way to use up stale bread and still often serves this purpose today (I however, love this recipe so much I can’t wait for the bread to go stale!).

The first published recipe for bread and butter pudding seems to have come from Eliza Smith’s ‘Complete Housewife’ which was published in 1728.

The original recipes for bread and butter pudding called for similar base ingredients to this recipe however, omitted the chocolate and sugar and instead included items such as dried fruits and spice, including cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

What you will need:

Ingredients:

Around 10-12 slices of chocolate chip sliced brioche loaf – I really like the Aldi one and it is very reasonably priced. You can also use a plain brioche loaf and add chocolate chips.
Full fat butter (definitely get a butter block, margarine doesn’t really cut it here)
350ml of full fat milk
50ml of double cream
2 medium size free range, organic eggs
20g caster sugar
2 tablespoons of soft light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of demerara sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Equipment:

Oven proof dish; I like to use a rectangular pyrex dish about 2.5 inches deep and about 12 or-so inches long but you can make it work with whatever you have as long as its ovenproof and you can fit two layers of bread into it!
Small milk saucepan
Large glass bowl
Jug
Wooden spoon
Whisk (I prefer an electric whisk)
Weighing scales

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c/160c fan/Gas Mark 4
2. Firstly you will need to butter one side of each slice of bread.
3. Once each slice is buttered, cut into two triangles
4. Arrange half of the slices, butter side up, in the bottom of the oven-proof dish over lapping them slightly so you can’t really see the bottom of the dish. You may need slightly more than half to cover the dish, don’t worry about this as you will need slightly less for the second layer.
5. Sprinkle a tablespoon of soft light brown sugar across the top of the slices, make sure to get this as evenly spread as possible. Add the next layer of buttered bread on top and sprinkle again with the remaining tablespoon of soft light brown sugar. Put the dish to one side for now.
6. Now to make the custard; measure out the milk and cream in a jug and add to the saucepan. Gently warm the milk and cream on the hob. Make sure it doesn’t boil or scald.
7. Whilst the milk and cream are warming crack the eggs into the glass bowl and whisk with the caster sugar until ‘fluffy’ and pale.
8. Add the vanilla extract the egg and sugar mixture.
9. Remove the warm milk and cream from the hob and add to the egg mixture in the glass bowl; stir well and ensure that it’s mixed together. The mix should look thick but ‘light’ in texture and colour.
10. Pour the custard on top of the layered bread. Do this slowly as it has a tendency to pour down the sides of the dish!
11. Once all the bread slices are thoroughly covered in custard sprinkle a tablespoon of demerara sugar evenly across the top.
12. Cover with foil and leave to stand for around 30 minutes, this should allow the custard to soak into each of the slices thoroughly.
13. After the 30 minutes is up, remove the foil and place in a pre-heated oven at 180c/160c fan/Gas Mark 4 for around 30-40 minutes. The top should be lightly golden and crispy.
14. Serve with warm ice cream for a delicious pudding.

I hope you enjoy this absolutely divine take on bread and butter pudding!

This recipe has been adapted from a traditional bread and butter pudding recipe which can be found here.

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