Bread and butter pudding
Slices of buttered bread, raisins, all soaked in a vanilla egg custard and baked until a golden crust forms over a soft heart. The warm Sunday evening dessert, born from the refusal to throw away stale bread.
Slices of buttered bread, raisins, all soaked in a vanilla egg custard and baked until a golden crust forms over a soft heart. The warm Sunday evening dessert, born from the refusal to throw away stale bread.
We threw nothing away at home — the stale bread from the week, we weren't going to feed it to the pigeons. You butter it, you layer it with a handful of raisins, you drown it all in beaten eggs with milk and a little sugar, and into the oven. It puffs up, it browns on top, it stays all soft underneath. Served warm, it's the kind of simple thing that takes you straight back to your mother's table.
- •Stale bread — several slices (recovered base)
- •Butter — for spreading (richness)
- •Raisins — a handful (sweet fruit)
- •Eggs — a few (custard mixture)
- •Milk — enough (custard)
- •Sugar + nutmeg — to taste (flavouring)
Bread and butter pudding
Slices of buttered bread, raisins, all soaked in a vanilla egg custard and baked until a golden crust forms over a soft heart. The warm Sunday evening dessert, born from the refusal to throw away stale bread.
Why this dish? The anti-waste dessert of modest British family cooking: stale bread is rescued to make a golden pudding. The no-fuss, resourceful spirit of a working-class childhood in north London.
We threw nothing away at home — the stale bread from the week, we weren't going to feed it to the pigeons. You butter it, you layer it with a handful of raisins, you drown it all in beaten eggs with milk and a little sugar, and into the oven. It puffs up, it browns on top, it stays all soft underneath. Served warm, it's the kind of simple thing that takes you straight back to your mother's table.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale bread — several slices (recovered base)
- Butter — for spreading (richness)
- Raisins — a handful (sweet fruit)
- Eggs — a few (custard mixture)
- Milk — enough (custard)
- Sugar + nutmeg — to taste (flavouring)
Ingredients
- Stale white bread or brioche — 8 slices (base)
- Butter — 50 g (richness)
- Raisins — 60 g (sweet fruit)
- Eggs — 3 (custard)
- Milk — 400 ml (custard)
- Sugar — 60 g (sweetness)
- Grated nutmeg — 1 pinch (flavouring)
Method
- Butter the bread slices, cut into triangles and layer in a dish, scattering raisins between layers.
- Beat eggs with milk, sugar and nutmeg to make the custard.
- Pour custard over the bread, let soak for 15-20 minutes.
- Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake (approx. 180 °C) until the top is golden and the custard is set.
- Serve warm, optionally with a drizzle of cream.
How it was made : Bread puddings have existed in England since the 17th-18th centuries as a way to use stale bread — a necessity in modest households where waste was unthinkable. The version with milk, eggs, nutmeg and dried fruit became a comforting family dessert throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
The contemporary twist : Individual ramekin versions, brioche instead of white bread and orange zest: 'first-class' bread and butter pudding.
Alan Parker · Charactorium