Fast Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe

Why Stale Bread Deserves a Second Chance

There is something quietly satisfying about a bread and butter pudding. It is the sort of pud that costs pennies, comes together in a single dish, and tastes as though you have been slaving away for hours. It is also the best possible answer to the half-loaf sitting on the counter going hard at the edges.

The trick is not to see stale bread as a problem but as the whole point. Fresh, squidgy bread turns to wallpaper paste when it meets custard. Bread that has dried out for a day or two holds its shape, soaks up the egg and milk mixture like a sponge, and bakes into something with a little structure under that golden, custard-soaked top. Day-old is ideal. Two-day-old is even better.

This version is deliberately quick. No faffing about with cream, no soaking overnight, no straining custard through a sieve. From cupboard to oven in about ten minutes, and on the table in under an hour.

What You Actually Need

You will want a shallow ovenproof dish roughly 1.5 litres in capacity — something about 25cm by 18cm, or a similar round dish. Shallow matters. A deep dish steams the middle and you lose that lovely contrast between crisp top and soft base.

• 6 slices of stale bread, crusts left on (white bloomer, a decent sourdough, or even leftover hot cross buns)
• 50g soft butter, plus a little extra for greasing
• 75g raisins or sultanas — or a mix with a few chopped glacé cherries
• 300ml whole milk and 100ml double cream (or use 400ml milk if you have no cream in)
• 3 large eggs
• 60g caster sugar, plus a spoonful of demerara for the top
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Fresh nutmeg — and this is not optional

A word on the nutmeg, because it is the difference between a nice pudding and a memorable one. The pre-ground stuff in a jar has all the character of sawdust. Buy whole nutmegs — they keep for years — and grate them over the top with a fine microplane. Half a nutmeg will do the whole dish.

The Method, Step by Step

Heat your oven to 180°C fan / 200°C conventional / gas mark 6 and butter your dish generously.

• Butter the bread. Spread each slice on one side. Not shyly — a decent, even layer. Cut each slice into quarters or triangles.
• Layer it up. Arrange half the bread in the dish, buttered side up, scatter over half the raisins, then repeat with the rest. Overlap the pieces slightly; you want a slightly shingled, uneven surface rather than a flat carpet.
• Whisk the custard. In a jug, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until smooth, then pour in the milk and cream and whisk again. No need to heat anything.
• Pour and press. Pour the custard evenly over the bread. Press the top layer down gently with the back of a spoon so it drinks it in. Leave it to sit for 10 minutes while the oven finishes heating — this is the one bit of patience that pays off.
• Finish and bake. Sprinkle over the demerara and grate the nutmeg generously across the surface. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until puffed, deep golden and just set in the middle. It should still wobble very slightly.

Shortcuts That Genuinely Work

If you are short on time, there are a few things you can do without wrecking the result. Cut the bread into smaller pieces and it will soak far quicker — five minutes instead of ten. Warm the milk and cream gently before mixing (not boiling, just hand-hot); the custard penetrates more readily and the pudding bakes faster.

You can also assemble the whole thing in the morning and leave it covered in the fridge until teatime. In fact, it improves. The bread has more time to absorb the custard and the baked result is silkier. Just add five minutes to the baking time if it goes in cold.

If you have a loaf that is rock hard rather than merely stale, slice it thinly and give it a light brush with milk before buttering. It will revive enough to do the job.

Serving, Storing and Reheating

Bread and butter pudding is at its absolute best about ten minutes out of the oven, when the custard has set enough to spoon out but is still soft and trembling. Serve it with pouring cream, custard or vanilla ice cream — the cold against the hot is half the pleasure.

Leftovers keep well, covered, in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave for 40–60 seconds, or the whole dish, covered in foil, at 160°C fan for 15 minutes. Do not be tempted to blast it at full power, or the custard will split and turn grainy.

One last note: this is a forgiving recipe, so treat the quantities as a guide. More fruit, a splash of whiskey or rum in the custard, a handful of chocolate chips, a layer of marmalade under the butter — all excellent. The only rule worth keeping is the nutmeg on top. Everything else is yours to fiddle with.