Scrumptious Bread and Butter Pudding with Homemade...

This weekend I decided to try my hand at making a classic English dessert. Bread and butter pudding is a great (and tasty) way of using up stale leftover bread. Usually it is associated with school dinners but the history of this dessert can be traced back to the 18th century. I decided to use Delia Smith’s recipe for Rich Bread and Butter Pudding but I made a few adjustments.

This is an easy and fun recipe to play around with. Different types of bread can be used such as a sesame seed loaf (which I used) or regular sliced white or wholemeal sandwich bread. Using something like a chocolate or almond brioche would make this dish extra special. Dried fruits, different spices as well as jams and marmalade can also be used to add extra flavour and textures to the dish. I decided to add a half cup of raisins that had been soaked in Cointreau for about 24 hours which gave the pudding a nice boozy hit.

It could have been the few boozy raisins I sampled or the glass of Cointreau I had on the side but I threw caution to the wind and decided to make my own custard to go with the pudding. I found a great recipe by Merrilees Parker which looked perfect for a custard making novice like myself.

While the bread and butter pudding came out beautifully, my first attempt at custard was not a success. I made the mistake of allowing the milk to get too hot. Even though I added it very slowly to the egg mixture it was so hot it actually cooked the eggs, resulting in a scrambled unappetizing mess.

So I started again (luckily it’s a very quick recipe) and managed to get it right. It was a lovely accompaniment to the bread and butter pudding but to be fair I may add a touch more vanilla essence next time and allow it to thicken just a wee bit more. I was probably being over cautious as the thought of a third attempt was not appealing.

If custard isn’t your thing then you can always pour double cream over the top or serve the pudding with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Bread and butter pudding is quite moist inside so you can actually eat it without any ‘extras’ on top – it just depends on how decadent you’re feeling!

So have a go at this easy recipe. It’s the perfect dessert for a lazy weekend!

Rich Bread and Butter Pudding courtesy of Delia Smith

Ingredients

• 8 slices bread (from a small loaf) – (I used a sesame seed loaf)

• Approximately 2oz (50g) butter

• ½ oz (10g) candied lemon or orange peel, finely chopped – (I didn’t have this so I added zest of one medium sized orange and extra lemon zest. See grated zest of ½ lemon below)

• 2 oz (50g) currants – (I used ½ cup of raisins soaked in generous amount of Cointreau)

• 10fl oz (275ml) milk – (I used full fat milk)

• 2 ½ fl oz (60ml) double cream

• 2 oz (50g) caster sugar

• Grated zest of ½ small lemon

• 3 eggs

• Freshly grated nutmeg

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C)

Method / Directions

1. Butter the bread and cut each slice of buttered bread in half – leaving the crusts on. – (I buttered BOTH sides of the bread as well as buttering the oven dish)

2. Now arrange one layer of buttered bread over the base of the baking dish, sprinkle the candied peel and half the currants over, then cover with another layer of the bread slices and the remainder of the currants. – (I just added my Cointreau soaked raisins at this stage)

3. Next, in a glass measuring jug, measure out the milk and add the double cream.

4. Stir in the caster sugar and lemon zest, then whisk the eggs, first on their own in a small basin and then into the milk mixture. – (I added the lemon and orange zest)

5. Pour the whole lot over the bread, sprinkle over some freshly grated nutmeg, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

6. Serve warm.

Homemade Custard Recipe courtesy of Merrilees Parker and BBC Food

Ingredients

• 290ml/10fl oz milk – (once again I used full fat)

• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways or tsp good quality vanilla essence

• 2 egg, yolks only

• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Preparation method

1. Heat the milk with the vanilla pod and allow it to just come to the boil. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar.

2. Pour the hot milk over the egg yolks whisking vigorously. When completely mixed in, return to the pan.

3. Stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. This will take 5-6 minutes.

4. Drain into a bowl, remove vanilla pod (or add essence if using).

Enjoy!!!

Bread and Butter Pudding

Sweet, Moist and Scrumptious Bread and Butter Pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding with Homemade Custard

The Sunday Roast: Not Just for Sundays...

There is nothing quite like a home made roast dinner, especially when the nights are drawing in and the weather has turned damp and cold. They remind me of cosy Sundays spent with my family watching All Creatures Great And Small while delicious smells wafted from the kitchen into the front room. Of course traditionally the Sunday roast is served on Sunday but this week we threw caution to the wind and decided to have a midweek roast.

It did take a little bit more preparation then usual as this time I was determined to make Yorkshire Puddings from scratch. I do feel guilty that I never attempted this before – relying instead on a ready mix where all you need to add is some water and an egg.

Thinking about it, it all seemed a bit ambitious for a midweek meal but I was willing to give it a try. When I started researching recipes I went immediately to one of my favourite chefs; James Martin. If anyone was going to have a delicious and easy to follow Yorkshire Pudding recipe it would be him, and I was right! The recipe I found is for Yorkshire Pudding With Onion Gravy (hurrah an additional treat!). However I was wondering what I was getting myself into! I tried making onion gravy once before which ended badly. Not only was it time consuming but after all that effort it ended up being horribly bitter (I am still not sure what I did wrong).

The main issue with the Yorkshire batter is that it needs to rest – preferably overnight. We had only decided on this meal the night before so after my husband went to work the next day I set about making the batter so it would have at least 10 hours to rest. As I went to get the ingredients I realized that I didn’t have the plain flour, whole milk or beef dripping that the recipe called for. It was a really wet blustery day and the thought of a one hour round trip walk to the shops did not appeal to me. So I did what any kitchen witch would do – I went with what I had, which was self raising flour, olive oil and semi skimmed milk.

Once the batter was in the fridge, I really didn’t have that much to prepare until later on. I took the organic beef joint out the fridge about an hour before we were going to start cooking it so that it could come up to room temperature. I peeled some potatoes and got them ready for parboiling and sliced 2 red onions in preparation for the gravy. I opened a bottle of red wine and had a glass – just to make sure it was ok to use in the gravy (it was).

When we were ready to start cooking my husband rubbed a mixture of olive oil, sea salt and English mustard over the joint. He then seared it on all sides in a hot pan. We added it to our roasting dish with a few cloves of garlic and some fresh lemon thyme. While that was cooking we poured some olive oil in some muffin tins and when it began to smoke we added the Yorkshire batter. After the beef had cooked for 15 minutes we added the parboiled potatoes and a knob of butter to coat them (this is NOT fat free cooking!).

We like our beef medium rare and as the joint was small it didn’t take too long to cook. We took it out to let it rest, placed the roast potatoes in a warmed dish in the oven and used the roasting pan to prepare the onion gravy. I added butter (told you this isn’t fat free!) and then red onions and some minced garlic. While allowing them to soften I had another glass of wine just to make sure it was still ok (it was) and then added a good glug of it to the pan. It helped me scrape up all the lovely browned bits from the beef and potatoes that were still on the pan. Once I added the beef stock to the gravy, my husband began to serve up.

The Yorkshires were golden, fluffy and thanks to the self raising flour, some of the biggest I have ever seen. The beef was done perfectly and the roast potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I spooned the onion gravy liberally over the plate; after tasting it first of course! It wasn’t bitter at all. It was rich, tangy and complimented everything beautifully. As for the Yorkshires – WOW – from this day forward I will always make them from scratch. They were exactly like the ones I remember my Mum making. Light, fluffy and unmistakeably made with love and care! You really can taste the difference between home made and pre-prepared.

The midweek roast dinner was a huge success and something we will do again. If you have never tried making your own Yorkshire puddings then do give it a try – it is absolutely worth it. As for the onion gravy, this is a great recipe for lovely deep rich gravy that will have you mopping up your plate!

Enjoy!

To see this wonderful James Martin’s recipe on the BBC Food website please click here.

Roast Beef, Homemade Yorkshire Puddings and Onion Gravy