Berry Bread and Butter Pudding
Some people love bread and butter pudding. Some are not so sure. I used to be in the not so sure camp. For some reason it just didn’t sound like it would be that good. Then I made this. And the rest, as they so often say, is history. It’s delicious!
When it comes to the bread, you want it to be a little bit old. A few days is perfect. It gives it the body and the texture to hold up to the custard. You don’t want it completely crumbly and dry though. In terms of the type of bread I like a regular white loaf or brioche if you want to be extra OTT. Don’t use sourdough or any chewy artisan style bread - it needs to be a lighter texture and style loaf. I like to slice it myself so that you can get nice thick textural pieces but if it’s already sliced it will still work fine.
The berries give it freshness and a little bit of tart moreishness. They also give it beautiful colour and interest when you come to serve it up. It’s good, as I say below in the recipe, to leave some pieces of the bread poking out so you get some slightly crunchy bites in the mix - texture is always an important element in cooking. Crunch and softness go hand in hand. It’s like sweet and sour or hot and cold. They always work!
You will see how the use of the Steam element here gives you amazing silkiness in the custard and helps it all to cook nice and evenly without any risk of drying out. Perfect!
It’s a perfect favourite for a cooler evening around the table. You won’t regret giving it a try.
Serves 6
12 thick (2cm) slices bread (a few days old is perfect)
spreadable butter (2-3 tbs)
3 eggs
375 ml milk (low or full fat, not zero fat)
250 ml pouring or thickened cream
100g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 punnet of your favourite berries
extra 1 tsp caster sugar mixed with ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Cooking spray or some extra butter
icing sugar to dust and double cream, ice cream or custard to serve
To make:
Spread one side of each slice of bread with some softened or spreadable butter. (this is optional but makes it extra decadent and delicious)
Place eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Try not to create too much aeration. You want to keep it thick but well combined.
Grease a large oven proof dish with the extra butter or cooking spray. Lay 4 of the slices of bread into the bottom of the dish, overlapping a little. Pour over ⅓ of the custard mixture and allow it to soak in. Sprinkle in ⅓ of the berries. Repeat, making two more layers and finishing with the remaining custard and berries. Leaving some corners of the custard soaked bread is nice for texture and presentation.
Sprinkle over the caster sugar and cinnamon mixture. Leave to set for 10 minutes.
Select Hot Air with Steaming (Combination Steam) on your Combi-Steam oven. Set the temperature to 190°C. For variable steam select 30%. Allow to pre-heat.
Place the dish into the centre of the pre-heated Combi-Steam. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden on top and set in the middle with a slight wobble still in the custard.
Remove and leave to cool and rest for 10 minutes.
Serve with double cream, ice cream or custard and dust with icing sugar as you desire.
No need to thank me for this one! Just make and enjoy.
Happy Combi-Steaming!
Yours in the kitchen,
The CSQ. x