When I think of Bread and Butter pudding I think of winter … a cold Friday night, after a long drawn out week at work and you are finally home. Only a decent glass of red … and something delicious and hot from the oven … is going to mellow you out enough to enjoy a much needed sleep that night.
It all sounds romantic I know, but no matter what industry I have worked in Friday nights have always been special … they herald the start of the weekend and it is the one night of the week I don’t like cooking. BUT … I do like to enjoy a yummy dessert whilst we are nestled up nice and warm in front of the tele watching an episode or two of our favourite show (currently it’s House of Cards!!!).
So when I recently had the chance to test out a bread and butter pudding recipe I was delighted with the result. The custard is inspired by Anton Mosimann’s famous Bread and Butter Pudding he used to serve as a house speciality at his restaurant (which is now a private club) in London. I came upon it through a gorgeous young chef I met at work some 30 years ago who had worked with Anton, and who had invited both Bryan and I over for dinner … the pudding was served for dessert and neither Bryan or I have ever forgotten it (the four of us ate the whole lot!).
I teamed the custard with the spread and filling I use in my brioche scrolls I make at Christmas … the cinnamon butter is delicious, and with the filling you can certainly replace the seeds with walnuts or pecans, but due to nut allergy in our home I stick with the seeds as they are great in this dish … something a little different to always using nuts.
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.
I teamed the custard with the spread and filling I use in my brioche scrolls I make at Christmas ... the cinnamon butter is delicious, and with the filling you can certainly replace the seeds with walnuts or pecans, but due to nut allergy in our home I stick with the seeds as they are great in this dish ... something a little different to always using nuts.
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.
- Deep baking dish approximately 30cm x 18cm
- Butter for the baking dish
- 1 x Ciabatta loaf (approximately 350 to 400g)
- 30g dried currants
- 30g dried craisins
- 15g sunflower seeds, toasted if possible
- 15g pepitas, toasted if possible
- 60g butter, room temperature
- 80g dark muscovado sugar, or dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 6 x 59g eggs
- 500g full cream milk
- 500g cream
- 100g maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ cup apricot jam
- 1 tbls water
- 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
Thus is hands down the best bread and pudding I have made. The recipe and your instructions are perfect.
This is a must winter dessert.
Di … I am so thrilled you have made it … I made it so many times testing the different breads that we got to know it very well in my family!!!!! He he … but thank goodness we all loved it too … you have made my day … thanks for letting me know xo
I worked at Mosimann’s around 30 years ago and i was a gorgeous young chef then as well.
I might know the guy you met, he gave you the incorrect recipe, there is no maple syrup used and a vanilla pod (split and seeded) (seeds only) not extract, although he got one part right, all the others on the net instruct you to boil the milk and cream first, even Mosimann said to make it that way in one of his books, whereas in the restaurant we added it just as the guy told you, uncooked.
What we did not do was include the egg whites, the way it was made there was with egg yolks only, with more added.
To date i have not found a better recipe for a custard.
Thank you so much for touching base Nick … I should explain that I was inspired by Anton’s recipe, but actually made some changes to the dish such as adding maple syrup as part replacement for some of the sugar used in the original recipe … I am so thrilled that you have confirmed that you consider it the best custard recipe to date, and I agree with you! I have Mosimann’s cookbook which has the recipe in it, and used that as my base when I started to make the dish, and then subsequently made adjustments based on my own preferences … it is so amazing to have you look over the recipe and offer me your feedback … and I really appreciate … cheers Gina 🙂