We had a lovely lunch at our friend's Tina and Tony on Thursday. Tina is an excellent cook, and also used to cook for a living like I did. I love going there for lunch. Aside from the wonderful food, I know we are going to enjoy some great companionship with two people we really love to spend time with.
Our meal was really lovely (no surprise)! We feasted on Beef Pot Roast, roasted potatoes, carrots, string beans and cauliflower cheese. It was all very tasty. (It always is!)
She actually had two desserts. One was a slimming world friendly Jelly Dessert with fruit, and the other was this fabulous Vanilla Sauced Bread Pudding!
She very graciously shared the recipe with me so that I could share it with you and here it is. Twenty four hours later I was making it for Todd, that's how good it was and how much we enjoyed it! High accolades indeed!
I just happened to have a stale French stick that needed using up, so it all seemed to be meant to be. I have a box of diet food arriving today, that I will be trialing a new Diet Plan all next week, so I wanted to get any desserts out of the way and out of the house before then!
This really is a fabulous pudding and very simple to make. Its basically just bread, milk, butter, sugar and eggs, with some vanilla and nutmeg for seasoning.
Here's a handy tip if you are like me and grate your own fresh nutmeg. I always end up with little bits from the ends of the nutmegs, which I have always been afraid to grate on my micro plane. I don't relish the idea of grated knuckles or finger tips.
What I do now is to save up a bunch of the ends until I have a few and then I grind them in my Cook House Coffee/Spice grinder. It works a charm! No waste and perfectly ground nutmeg!
Basically you soak the bread and raisins in milk and butter until it softens and then beat in eggs, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg, pour it into a buttered baking dish and bake.
If you are not fond of raisins you could use chocolate chips, or vanilla chips, or dried cherries or cranberries . . . . chopped dried apricots, figs or dates . . . any dried fruit or even mix of dried fruits in the same quantities would work well!
Once the pudding is baked you make a simple vanilla caramel sauce, which goes together in a flash on top of the stove.
I like to pour just a little bit of this on top of the hot pudding when it comes out of the oven . . . it glazes it very nicely.
After that it is ready to be spooned out into bowls . . . with some more of the sauce on the side . . .
ready to pour over each serving . . . mmm . . . .
This is so, so, soooooo good . . .
The pudding is a but crisp on the outsides, but soft and unctuously moreish on the insides . . . studded with sticky raisins . . .
This is wonderful just as is with just more of the sauce spooned over top . . . or with some pouring cream or warm custard . . . the North American in me would enjoy this with cold vanilla ice cream! The glutton in me would enjoy it with anything, or even nothing at all! 😉
Yield: 8Author: Marie Rayner
Vanilla Sauced Bread Pudding
prep time: 15 minscook time: 45 minstotal time: 60 minsThis delicious bread pudding was served at my friend Tina's the other day. She was gracious enough to share the recipe with us. Serve on it's own with more of the sauce poured over top, along with cream, warm custard or even vanilla ice cream if you wish!ingredients:
240g stale white bread, cut into cubes (4 cups, or 8 thick slices)75g raisins (1/2 cup)480ml whole milk (2 cups)60g butter (1/4 cup)95g sugar (1/2 cup)2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly1 TBS vanilla1/2 tsp ground nutmeg For the sauce:120g butter (1/2 cup)95g sugar (1/2 cup)100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup, packed)120ml heavy cream (1/2 cup whipping cream)1 TBS vanilla To serve: (optional)pouring cream, warm custard sauce, or vanilla ice cream
instructions:
Put the milk for the pudding in the microwave along with thebutter. Heat just to melt the butter. Put the cubed bread into a large
bowl along with the raisins. Pour the milk/butter mixture over top,
pressing down to submerge completely. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Preheat
the oven to 180*c/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a large shallow casserole
dish. (1 1/2 litre/1 1/2 Qt) Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla into the
bread mixture along with the nutmeg. Pour into the prepared baking
dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes until just set in
the center.
Measure the butter, both sugars
and cream into a saucepan. Cover over medium heat, stirring
occasionally, until the mixture comes to the boil and thickens. Remove
from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Spoon a
bit of the sauce over the pudding to cover. Serve warm, spooned into
dessert dishes with the extra sauce on the side to pour over top. Pass
cream or custard if desired, or serve with some vanilla ice cream.Created using The Recipes Generator
I know . . . most bloggers out there are posting diet dishes now, helping you to shed the pounds after all of the holiday excess. I am not one to follow trends. You won't find veganuary on here or any other gimick. I won't pretend to be what I am not. I also don't do New Year's resolutions, but am looking forward to trying this new Diet Plan next week. Thankfully I will still be able to cook for Todd! Happy weekend and Bon Appetit!