I was caught a little bit on the back foot to find we had guests for supper tonight and one of them has requested B&B pud ‘like last time’. Normally I would use my own fruit loaf (or as the kids call it – tutti-frutti loaf) but I don’t have one in so I relented and bought a supermarket specimen which is not bad… it just lacks the cherries and preserved ginger and some spices. Tsk.
Ingredients
- 25g soft butter, plus extra for greasing
- 1 tsp. allspice powder
- 8 slices fruit bread
- 400ml milk (full fat is best but 2% or 1% work – fat free – nah!)
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp. caster sugar
- grated nutmeg, to taste
Method
- Grease a 1 litre dish lightly with butter. (Mine is 20cm x 20cm and about 2.5 cm deep)
- Mix the allspice with the 25g of softened butter
- Spread each slice of bread with the spiced butter
- If you wish to: cut the crusts off the bread then cut into triangles. I don’t.
- Arrange the bread in layers along the dish – you need some corners sticking up to go crispy
- Warm the milk in a pan over a low heat. If it’s too hot to hold your finger in, its’ ready
- Break the eggs into a bowl with the yolk, add the sugar and whisk until pale.
- Pour the milk into the eggs in the bowl while stirring. Then tip everything back into the pan
- Turn the heat off and stir the custard on the hob for one more minute
- Pour the custard over the bread layers.
- Leave to stand. 10 minutes is okay, 30 minutes is better
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Bake the pudding for 30-40 minutes: the custard will set and the top becomes golden-brown.
- Serve with a dollop of thick cream, ice cream or, if you have to, custard. I like vanilla yogurt here.
Variants
- Use plain bread and add seasonal fruit to your taste. Rum soaked raisins work well.
- Press three triangles of bread into a ramekin and fill with the custard mix – bake for 15 – 20 mins
Competent Cook & Novice Allotmenteer
Absolutely Delicious 
Yum! What a fabulous looking bake! =D