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5 from 1 vote

Bread and Butter Pudding

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time55 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 8 serves
Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Ingredients

FOR BAKING

  • Deep baking dish approximately 30cm x 18cm
  • Butter for the baking dish
  • 1 x Ciabatta loaf approximately 350 to 400g

FRUIT AND SEED MIX

  • 30 g dried currants
  • 30 g dried craisins
  • 15 g sunflower seeds toasted if possible
  • 15 g pepitas toasted if possible

CINNAMON BUTTER

  • 60 g butter room temperature
  • 80 g dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ tsp fine sea salt

CUSTARD MIX

  • 6 x 59g eggs
  • 500 g full cream milk
  • 500 g cream
  • 100 g maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ tsp fine sea salt

FOR GLAZING AFTER BAKING

  • ¼ cup apricot jam
  • 1 tbls water

Instructions

  • Prepare the baking dish by spreading a thin film of butter onto base and sides
  • Place a small container (I use a cereal bowl) on top of TM bowl and measure in the fruit and seed mix, put aside
  • Place cinnamon butter ingredients into TM bowl and blend 6 seconds / speed 5
  • Put aside in a small container (I use a cereal bowl), do not clean TM bowl
  • Place ingredients for the custard mix into TM bowl and blend 10 seconds / speed 5
  • Cut the Ciabatta loaf into approximately 2cm slices
  • Spread the cinnamon butter mix onto one side of each slice of bread using up all the butter
  • Cut the slices in half and put into the baking tray on a angle (see picture as a guide)
  • Sprinkle over the fruit and seed mix
  • Pour custard slowly onto the bread over the back of a spoon so that you don’t dislodge the pieces
  • Put aside for 30 minutes to give the custard time to start absorbing into the bread
  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
  • After 30 minutes spoon some of the custard back over the top of the bread slices, lightly pressing the back of the spoon onto the bread to push it further into the custard (it won’t go all the way in, but you want to wet the top of the bread before baking)
  • Bake for 40 minutes, turn baking tray around and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until it is a lovely golden colour (there will be a slight wobble in the middle of the tray which is what you want)
  • Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes
  • In the meantime mix the apricot jam with the water and warm slightly so that you can pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps (I usually do this for 20 seconds in the microwave which makes it loose enough to pass through a sieve)
  • Lightly spread glaze over the pudding to give it a lovely sheen
  • Serve with vanilla bean ice-cream and a little extra drizzle of maple syrup if desired

Notes

The whole dish can be prepared up to 4 hours in advance and kept covered in the fridge ... just remove it at least an hour before baking and bake as described in the recipe. I have also tested this recipe making it a day before (so 24 hours in advance) and whilst I was happy with the result, Bryan noticed that there wasn't as much custard as it had been absorbed more fully by the bread so the flavour was definitely there, but Bryan really missed the extra custard.
After making the initial pudding with the leftovers of my brioche, I struggled to find the right kind of bread to use that gave enough texture (chew) and crunch (crust) without being too much. Croissants were too "sloppy" and I didn't like that; Pana di Casa bread is great but you will need to cut it a little thinner than the 2cm recommended; and finally I found that a good Ciabatta loaf is perfect ... it is not at dense as a Pana di Casa, but dense enough to soak up the custard and bake up beautifully with the right about of crunch in the crust. You can of course use any bread you like (many recipes just use stale bread), but this is what I have tested the recipe with and I know it works.
I always have toasted sunflower seeds and pepitas (together) in the fridge as I use them alot in salads and other dishes. If you don’t wish to toast them please don’t worry, but if you feel up to it I would recommend you do a tray full and keep the rest in the fridge … you will get so many lovely uses out of them.
The glaze topping is optional but it does give a lovely glossy finish to the pudding and I recommend it. The pudding is delicious warm but equally delicious cold so leftovers can definitely be eaten with glee the next day.