I really should have thought of this far earlier - Jam Butty Pudding

 

 

Given my refreshing sense of laissez-faire when it comes to life (This is my kind way of saying 'can't be arsed') I seem to have three half used jars of jam randomly arranged on my worktop and half a loaf of stale bread, because I didn't wrap it up properly, and I could have made toast and jam, but this is so predictable. Instead I decided to make it far more unhealthy by encasing the aforementioned bread and jam in a creamy vanilla custard, therefore creating, if you will, jam butty pudding.  If you are not from these parts,'butty' means 'sandwich' and 'pudding' means 'something glorious' ... probably.

 

I could have taken the crusts off I suppose, but personally I kinda like the way they crisp up and create that wonderful textural contrast between crunch and softness. And you could use any old jam you like. This just happened to be strawberry but, you know, I could be persuaded to use any jam. I think I would like to use the quince jelly I have, which means I'll have to buy even more of it when I next go to France. Shame.

 

I made this so it would be a set custard, so I was working on 100ml of liquid to one egg and I did this because I wanted to pour a little cream over when I served this. I was thinking crunchy, soft, warm then cold. If you wanted to, you could increase the liquid to egg ratio for a more liquid custard. I only added about 30g of sugar because I wanted the jam to be the sweetness, but that is all about personal taste. You could also cook this, bain marie style but I'll be honest, due to my liking of laissez faire, I just bunged it in the oven with some foil on top for about 30 - 40 minutes or so, then checked if the custard was starting to solidify, which it was. Then I removed the foil and let the top brown for about 15 minutes or so.

 

By the way, if by some peculiar notion you happen to have leftovers, this is really quite nice the next day. Let's just say that I have eaten breakfasts that are far, far worse...

 

Jam Butty Pudding

 

Ingredients:

 

Six to eight slices of stale, white bread

Half a jar of jam (I used strawberry)

150ml double cream

150ml milk

3 eggs

a vanilla pod (you could use extract)

30g sugar (or to taste)

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 180c

 

 

 

Make jam sandwiches (take the crusts off if you want)

 

 

 

Cut the sandwiches into triangles that will fit snuggly into an ovenproof dish. Arrange them so that they sit in the dish reasonably tightly.

 

 

 

Meanwhile to make the custard, mix the liquids, the eggs and the sugar together. Slit the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Then put the vanilla pod in. (or just use a tsp of extract).

 

 

 

Pour some of the custard mixture over the sandwiches and allow the bread to absorb it. Then pour the rest of the custard over.

 

Place the dish on a tray and cover with dish with foil. Place in the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes. Check the pudding round about 30 minutes to see if the custard is beginning to set. Take the foil off for the last 20 minutes or so to brown the top, but keep an eye on it as it could burn quickly.

 

Once you're happy with the colour, take the dish out of the oven. The pudding should appear quite puffed but will sink once it comes out of the oven.

 

 

 

Serve warm, with a splosh (or more) of cream.

 

 

 

Luxurious leftovers - Panettone Bread Pudding

Actually, I am being a little misleading here. The Panettone wasn't 'leftover' as such, much more that I bought it in the Christmas sale in the supermarket for a bargain price, but I did have more cream and eggs than I envisaged, as the planned ice cream I was going to make didn't happen, so whilst I am being a little disingenuous, there is some element of truth within.

And yes, I am meant to be on a diet, January being the month of soup and sacrifice. But whilst there are leftovers in the house there is not a hope of this happening. New Year's Resolutions are so passe anyway; is there really any difference in my starting a diet a couple of weeks into January?

You could use whatever bread you choose for this, as long as it is stale. There is no point in trying this with fresh bread as the slices will not soak up the custard sufficiently. The consistency of this is quite eggy, in a nice way, so the bread has a wobble rather than still swimming in custard. I have never been a soggy bread girl. If you want more moisture, then I don't think you can go wrong if you drizzle a little cream over. You can begin the diet tomorrow.

Panettone Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

Six slices of Panettone (or bread of your choice to fit the dish you want to use)

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

500ml double cream

500ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g sugar

Method

Leave out the Panettone so that it becomes slightly stale, but not hard. A couple of hours maybe.

Place the Panettone in a suitable dish. Layer the slices so that they sort of overlap.

Put the eggs in a bowl. Whisk them a little, then add the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Once the 'custard' mixture is ready pour about half over the bread and push the bread into it using your fingertips. Leave a few minutes to allow the bread to soak up most of the liquid. Only then add the remainder, in stage if necessary to allow the bread to soak up the custard. Keep pushing the bread into the custard to ensure all of the bread gets some coverage.

Once the bread is submerged, place the dish into a bigger dish (I used a roasting tin) and pour boiling water into the roasting tin so that it comes up about two thirds of the way up the sides of the dish which contains the bread pudding.

Cover the pudding and roasting tin with foil, piercing the foil a couple of times to allow steam to escape.

Place in a preheated oven, 180c, for about 45 minutes. Once the pudding appears 'set'. remove the foil and allow the top to brown, about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the pudding at this point!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. I generally leave the pudding about 20 - 25 minutes or so before serving, with cream, and perhaps a dusting of icing sugar if you feel like it.