Sunday, 16 March 2008

Traditional English Recipe - Graham's Bread & Butter Pudding




!!! TRADITIONAL COMFORT FOOD AT ITS ABSOLUTE BEST !!!

Okay, yes I know, my blog has turned into a bit of a Chef's Guide rather than a Travel Guide - but the weather has been really poor recently. Subsequently, I haven't been clambering up mountains too often, but rather have stayed in the comfort of my own home and have been dabbling about in the kitchen.

Today's dish is a sweet and is affectionately known as Bread and Butter Pudding. (I promise that this will be my last recipe for a while - and don't worry, I won't be giving up my day job!!!!).

Once a 'waste not, want not' way of using up stale bread and making an inexpensive family desert, this modest dish has now been elevated to the ranks of gourmet cooking.

If you do use this great recipe for a traditional Bread & Butter Pudding, please be welcome to either email me or leave a comment at the bottom of this post with your feedback. Thank You ~ Graham :o)
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INGREDIENTS




6 slices of day-old white or wholemeal bread
2 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
2 tbsp sugar (I used demerara sugar, but you can use any type)
25g / 1oz / 1 handful sultanas
25g / 1oz / 1 handful currants
(You can vary the dried fruit depending on what you like)
425 ml / 15fl oz / 1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
(If you haven't got cinnamon / nutmeg, then using ground mixed spice is equally as tasty).

Please click HERE to for a UK/US conversion table

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Graham's Tip
You can vary the amount of fruit and spices based
on your own preference to taste and texture.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F / Gas Mark 4. Whilst it is warming up, cut off the crusts from the slices of bread. Then spread them with butter before cutting each slice into quarters.




Grease an 850 ml / 1 1/2 pint ovenproof dish with butter, then arrange half of the bread, buttered side up, on the base of the dish.





Sprinkle over half of the sugar, then scatter over half of the dried fruit.





Top this with the remaining bread and then sprinkle over the remaining sugar and fruit.



Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix until smooth.



Pour the mixture evenly over the bread, then transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.



Remove from the oven and serve hot.





My favourite additions are either a nice serving of custard, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous helping of double cream. As I didn't have any custard or ice-cream in the house (shocking, I know!!!) I helped myself to a very very generous helping of double cream.

I know it may be tempting, but you don't have to eat it all in one sitting... as well as eating it hot, it is great to eat cold too. Just open that refridgerator and dip your spoon in....Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Go on!!! Spoil yourself!!! Give it a try!!!




Please be welcome to leave a comment below:

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Graham. I have to tell you something. I really hate you. Because every time I stop by, you have another delicious recipe for me to try making.

The fact that it's good old English fare makes me hate you even more, because my mouth starts watering, and I realize how much I miss that kind of food.

LOL!

Seriously though, thanks for sharing!! :D

iriegal said...

This recipe is so delicious thank you so much for sharing it

Graham Ettridge said...

Awwww...lol! Well, now that you have a reminder of the recipe here, you can bake yourself a little piece of England.

I hope you enjoy!!!!
Warm Wishes ~ Graham

Graham Ettridge said...

iriegal, thank you so much for your nice words. You should give it a try, it is sooo yummy!!!

Anonymous said...

I love to make bread and butter pudding with pannetone. I'm going to try your recipe. Yummmmm!

Graham Ettridge said...

Andrea, Mmmmm I love Pannetone. Next time I will try it using that instead :) Thanks for your kind words.

AZZITIZZ said...

Bread and butter pudding, my favorite! Yum!

AZZITIZZ said...

P.S. You can try different variations for people who don't like the dried fruit, (Neeza for example!) I use sliced bananas.
I have even made it with jam butties!
X

Graham Ettridge said...

Azzy, Mmmmmm jam butties.... I have heard of that one before. I must try it. And the Bananas option sounds yummy too! Thanx :)

Tint~ said...

I was referred to your site for the photography challenge, but came up short with Food! I live in Brazil, but I'm from South Africa and I a miss this food! We used to spread apricot jam between the layers of bread. I want to try it with panettone now. On the other hand, the good old plain bread and butter pudding would also go down a treat. I just need to find myself some bread now ;)

Graham Ettridge said...

Hey Tint :) Thanks for visiting. Apricot jam sounds like a lovely addition. I love apricots, so may try that one soon! I hope you do manage to make one, it is sooo scrummy and is definitely comfort food Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

Michelle said...

oh wow, now I'm hungry. :-\ Believe it or not, but I haven't made Bread and butter pudding since I left South Africa!

side note: Hi Tint! :-)
my mom used to substitute marmalade when we didn't have apricot jam. I'd forgotten that.

I also have a savoury version, but my husband thinks that's just too weird to try - basically it's lining a dish with ham and cheese sandwiches, pour over egg and milk, add extra cheese and bake.

Culture Vulture said...

Great recipe with pictures.

Anonymous said...

hi graham,
thank you very much for the recipe, my family used to love b&b pudding when we lived in england, so i was very happy to have found this. i have made it twice now, this time i made it with some minor changes, like i added some cut orenge bits along with raisins, added some crushed nuts - cashew and almonds in the middle layer and added a bit of cream along with milk. tasted real yummy both times.
thanks a lot once again for sharing this.

Graham Ettridge said...

I'm sop glad you enjoyed the recipe, and your additions sound delicious. I will be sure to try them next time I cook it :)

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