Delightful Bread Pudding – not to be confused with its richer cousin, bread and butter pudding – is another way to use up stale bread.
As my Grandad pointed out to my Mum, the addition of dried fruit, butter, sugar, eggs and spices makes it a very expensive way of using up cheap stale bread, but it is delicious and filling. Just the thing to plug the vast, bottomless hunger hole that inhabits the space between coming home from school and eating dinner.
Speaking of children, this is a really good recipe for kids to make – the tearing of bread is laborious, but passes more quickly with someone chatting to you, little hands are good at squeezing water from soggy bread and they can beat it half to death with a wooden spoon because you can’t overmix bread pudding.

Interestingly, Grandad’s recipe book lists the recipe as a hot pudding to be eaten with custard, but we never ate it this way; no, it’s strictly left to cool and cut into slabs to be devoured as you would a piece of cake. A very substantial piece of cake, mind you, but still that’s our eating method of choice.
Yes, it’s a good rainy day recipe and it’s decidedly Autumnal here now. Sad for us to bid farewell to hot days, but great for good traditional bread pudding!

Take your stale bread

and tear it into ‘feeding small birds’ pieces. Not swans. Little birds.

Pour over enough cold water to saturate it. I used about 1½ pints, but start with 1 pint. There’s nothing to stop you drowning it completely, but it just increases the amount of time you spend squeezing the water out afterwards.
Let it sit for an hour to get thoroughly soggy.

Putting a couple of handful of soggy bread in the sieve at a time, squeeze and press the water out. You can use whatever utensil you like, but I had great success using my hands.

Once it’s all been squeezed, return to a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until it’s mushy and smoother.

Add the raisins, sugar, cinnamon and mixed spice and beat them in.
Add the beaten eggs and melted butter and beat that in too.

Add a little milk (I used about 2 tbsp) to achieve a nice dropping consistency

Pour into a greased baking tin (mine was 9×13″) and sprinkle some demerara sugar and a good rasping of nutmeg over the top. Bake for 1½ to 2 hours.

Until browned, firm and pulling away from the edges of the tin.

Cool in the tin, sprinkle with more sugar and cut into slabs, squares or dainty fingers.

Enjoy!

——–
Bread Pudding

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

1 lb stale bread
9oz raisins
4oz sugar
4oz butter, melted or very soft
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, beaten
Milk to mix
Nutmeg and Demerara sugar to dredge

Tear the bread into small ‘feed the birds’ pieces.
Pour over cold water to saturate the bread – anything between 1 and 2 pints depending on the staleness of your bread. Leave to soak for an hour.

Heat oven to GM3/160/325
Grease a baking tin of around 9×13″.

Put a couple of handfuls of soggy bread at a time into a nylon sieve and strain and squeeze as much water as you can out of the bread. Beat with a wooden spoon to reduce to mush.
Add the fruit, butter, spices and eggs and beat together. Add enough milk to get a soft dropping consistency, but don’t let it get too wet. I only needed about 2 tbsps.
Pour into the tin and scatter with Demerara sugar and a good rasping of nutmeg.

Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until firm and pulled away from the side of the tin.
Cool in the tin, then when cold, cut into slabs or daintier fingers. Dredge with more sugar if you like.

Store in an airtight container – you can also freeze it.

2 Responses to “Bread Pudding”

1. Auntie Rene says:

   11 September, 2010 at 7:58 pm

   AS you know this is a great family recipe, only difference from my Mums is the egg, so will try that in my next one. I only use sultanas. So Anna I must have a sample of yours next trip. OMG Fingers!!! no no a lovely big portion please.
2. Anna says:

   15 September, 2010 at 2:19 pm

   I didn’t realise she didn’t use any egg – shall try that myself. I’m laughing at you OMGing about fingers though! xxx