If you ask Briton what is their favourite pudding, one in three will say that there is no better dessert than Bread&Butter pudding. Its taste is the taste of childhood for the British. These are mouth-watering flavours from mother’s kitchen, this is a family lunch on Sundays, this is nursery food. This simple recipe was born in difficult and hungry post-war times, when food was obtained with ration stamps, and stale bread was not to be scattered away. And even in such a difficult situation, people tried to please their children with something tasty. In our world, where food is always available, even croissants often become stale. By the way, you can also make this dessert from croissants if you use them instead of bread. It will be even tastier this way.
If you ask Briton what is their favourite pudding, one in three will say that there is no better dessert than Bread&Butter pudding. Its taste is the taste of childhood for the British. These are mouth-watering flavours from mother’s kitchen, this is a family lunch on Sundays, this is nursery food. This simple recipe was born in difficult and hungry post-war times, when food was obtained with ration stamps, and stale bread was not to be scattered away. And even in such a difficult situation, people tried to please their children with something tasty. In our world, where food is always available, even croissants often become stale. By the way, you can also make this dessert from croissants if you use them instead of bread. It will be even tastier this way.- Prep time: 15 minutes + 25 minutes’ standing
- Cook time: 40 minutes
- Serves: 4-6
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: pastry
- Cookware: baking dish, nutmeg mill, bread knife, kitchen blowtorch
- Cuisine: English
Ingredients
- 12 slices of stale white toasted bread
- 25 g butter
- 600 ml double cream
- 8 yolks
- 75 g sugar
- 150 g raisins
- nutmeg, grated
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
- icing sugar
Cooking method
Step 1
Heat oven to 160°C. Butter a baking dish. Cut off the crust from each piece of bread, spread the bread with butter, season with and cut into triangles. Set aside.
Step 2
Heat the cream and vanilla in a saucepan until boiling. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and, stirring constantly, pour the simmering cream into them. Whisk until smooth and set aside.
Step 3
Pour a little bit of custard in a baking dish, scatter half of the raisins on top, lay out the bread. Pour the remaining custard over the bread and scatter evenly the second half of the raisins. Lightly press the bread down with your fingers to help soak in the custard. Set aside for 25 minutes.
Step 4
Bake the pudding for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pudding from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the pudding with a thick layer of icing sugar. Caramelise the top under a hot grill or with a kitchen blowtorch. Serve the bread & butter pudding warm.
My tips and tricks:
If you want to expand the flavour of any raisin baked goods, try this simple trick. Take a cinnamon stick, star anise, 2 tbsp sugar, peel from ¼ orange, 2 tbsp water and mix everything in a saucepan. Bring to boil, add 100ml bourbon (or other strong aromatic alcohol), stir well and remove the saucepan from heat. Pour the raisins into a container with a lid and cover with the mixture. Cover with a lid and leave for at least 2 hours. Now you can make the “Bourbon Bread & Butter Pudding” 🙂
Alla Plachkova’s wine recommendations:
I suggest pairing the Bread & Butter pudding with fortified dessert sweet white Muscat Kolonist. This refined, intense amber wine captivates with its nutmeg aroma and its taste of freshly picked grapes, citron, ripe apricots, honey, and roasted almonds, turning into a long, graceful aftertaste. It pairs well with soft and hard cheeses, pates, desserts, it will be an excellent addition to vanilla ice cream. Serving temperature: from +10 to +14°С.
- 12 slices of stale white toasted bread
- 25 g butter
- 600 ml double cream
- 8 yolks
- 75 g sugar
- 150 g raisins
- nutmeg, grated
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
- icing sugar
- Heat oven to 160 ° C. Butter a baking dish. Cut off the crust from each piece of bread, spread the bread with butter, season with and cut into triangles. Set aside.
- Heat the cream and vanilla in a saucepan until boiling. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and, stirring constantly, pour the simmering cream into them. Whisk until smooth and set aside.
- Pour a little bit of custard in a baking dish, scatter half of the raisins on top, lay out the bread. Pour the remaining custard over the bread and scatter evenly the second half of the raisins. Lightly press the bread down with your fingers to help soak in the custard. Set aside for 25 minutes.
- Bake the pudding for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pudding from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the pudding with a thick layer of icing sugar. Caramelise the top under a hot grill or with a kitchen blowtorch. Serve the bread & butter pudding warm.