Bread and Butter Pudding - Northern European Recipe

Bread and Butter Pudding

🌍 Northern European, British Difficulty: ●○○○○

🍳 Equipment: Pie dish, basin

The classic British pudding of buttered bread layered with dried fruit and baked in a sweet custard. Mrs. Beeton's version is simple and thrifty — the kind of nursery pudding that defined Victorian home cooking.

Ingredients

• 5 or 6 thin slices of bread and butter
• 1 pint of milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 dessertspoonful of sugar
• Sultanas, currants, or candied lemon (if liked)

Method

1. Prepare bread — Cut off the crusts and divide each slice of bread and butter into 4 squares.
2. Layer — Arrange the squares in layers in a well-buttered pie dish, sprinkling each layer with sultanas, currants, or candied lemon if using.
3. Make custard — Beat the eggs, add the sugar, and stir until dissolved. Mix in the milk and pour gently over the bread, which should only half fill the dish.
4. Soak — Let it stand for at least 1 hour for the bread to soak up the custard.
5. Bake — Bake in a moderately cool oven for nearly 1 hour, until the custard is set and the top is golden.
6. Serve — Serve warm, cut into wedges from the dish.

Tags: bread, butter, milk, eggs, sultanas · Source: Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861)