Bread and butter pudding recipe

There was a small trolley-full of white Warburtons bread on special offer at my local +The Co-operative last weekend because it was practically at its sell-by date. 50p a loaf so I grabbed one! I've been meaning to make this pudding all week and as Dave's up to London visiting his daughter tonight, I've got the kitchen to myself.

There's two types of bread pudding - the heavy block one that's best eaten cold a few days after making, and this lighter one which retains some idea of the bread slices it used to be. The loaf I'm using - Crusty Premium White - has turned out to be a very light bread and I hoping it does just about have enough body to cope with being puddinged. The quantities below are enough for a 10x7 inch Le Creuset dish.

Bread and butter pudding 

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread, buttered and quartered 
good handful of sultanas
3 eggs
1/2 pint of milk
1 tbsp white sugar
ground cinnamon
1 tbsp demerera sugar

Arrange the quartered bread slices in a shallow oven-proof dish. I far prefer to use butter than margarine for this, but either would work and it's not really worth splashing out especially on butter when the recipe uses so little. Sprinkle the sultanas over the top.

In a jug or bowl, beat the eggs together with the milk and the first tbsp of sugar. I used semi-skimmed milk, but the creamier the better for this recipe. Also, white sugar here will dissolve easier than brown. We've only got brown though and it's ok. Pour the egg/milk/sugar mixture over the bread and leave it to soak in for at least 30 minutes. Squish the bread down a bit with a fork if it's standing up too proud of the milk.

Preheat the oven to 170-180C.

Sprinkle the top of the pudding with the other tbsp of sugar and the ground cinnamon.

Place the pudding in the centre of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the custard has set.

Serve hot or cold. It's lovely with proper yellow Bird's Eye custard.