AuthorAnn Ogden GaffneyBread and Butter Pudding is a favorite British nursery food, nursery food being the food we Brits typically turn to for comfort. This is basically a bread pudding made with a milk based egg custard. It is pretty straight forward to make despite being baked in a bain-marie (water bath), but if you follow my directions you'll see that it's easy to do. There's not much sugar in the custard since the sweetness comes mostly from the raisins that are scattered throughout. What added sugar there is, is used to turn the top slices of bread into a sweet, buttery, crunchy crust. Delish!
Preheat the oven to 350F ( 175C). Grease a 1 quart baking dish or 9” loaf pan with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter. Set Aside. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, lemon zest and nutmeg. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Lightly butter the slices of bread with the 2 tablespoons of remaining butter. Cut them across into triangles so that they will fit better into the baking dish. Line the buttered dish with a single layer of bread, buttered side up. Sprinkle with roughly 1/3 of the raisins. Repeat ending with a layer of bread buttered side up. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. It should almost cover the top slices of bread without submerging it. Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar.
Set the baking dish into a larger ovenproof dish and put into the oven. Carefully fill the oven proof dish with hot water from the kettle until it comes about half way up the side of the pudding dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ann's Tips:
I've put 8 slices of bread here, but 6 may be enough. You can use any kind of stale bread - whole meal, white bread, sourdough, or fruit and nut breads, but I don’t recommend any strong tasting strictly savory breads like seeded rye. I also don’t like to add too much sugar to the egg mixture as the raisins add sweetness - I’d rather have a sweet crunchy top, but if that’s not you, add 2 tablespoons sugar to the eggs, and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon.
Bread and Butter Pudding is a favorite British nursery food, nursery food being the food we Brits typically turn to for comfort. This is basically a bread pudding made with a milk based egg custard and if you follow the directions you'll see that it's easy to do.
6 servings
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F ( 175C). Grease a 1 quart baking dish or 9” loaf pan with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter. Set Aside. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, lemon zest and nutmeg. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Lightly butter the slices of bread with the 2 tablespoons of remaining butter. Cut them across into triangles so that they will fit better into the baking dish. Line the buttered dish with a single layer of bread, buttered side up. Sprinkle with roughly 1/3 of the raisins. Repeat ending with a layer of bread buttered side up. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. It should almost cover the top slices of bread without submerging it. Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar.
Set the baking dish into a larger ovenproof dish and put into the oven. Carefully fill the oven proof dish with hot water from the kettle until it comes about half way up the side of the pudding dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ann's Tips:
I've put 8 slices of bread here, but 6 may be enough. You can use any kind of stale bread - whole meal, white bread, sourdough, or fruit and nut breads, but I don’t recommend any strong tasting strictly savory breads like seeded rye. I also don’t like to add too much sugar to the egg mixture as the raisins add sweetness - I’d rather have a sweet crunchy top, but if that’s not you, add 2 tablespoons sugar to the eggs, and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon.
