Traditional Bread Pudding – British Recipe

After receiving a request to make Bread Pudding I decided it was time to make it again. I already have the recipe for this Traditional Bread Pudding on my blog, but from the days before I was making videos.

This is a great way to use up stale bread rather than wasting it. Not only that, but made correctly, the pudding tastes so good. Full of dried fruits and some mixed spice it makes a perfect dessert. The recipe used mixed dried fruits and extra chopped mixed peel. You can easily adapt it, though, to incorporate other dried fruit too. When you combine the bread, fruit and spices with sugar and wet ingredients you have a soggy mass. That mass transforms into a rich, dense and very tasty pudding in the oven.

This pudding is one that I fondly remember from my childhood. It was always so tasty and very filling indeed. With custard as an accompaniment it never fails to satisfy the appetite. But is it great too just as a snack.

Ingredients

I will elaborate a little more on the ingredients. The bread can be any variety you wish. It can be fresh, but the recipe is a great way to use up stale bread. The mixed dried fruit is a combination of sultanas, raisins, currants and mixed citrus peel. But including other dried fruits, such as dried apricots, cranberries etc also works well. Basically whatever dried fruits you have available will be fine. In addition more chopped mixed peel is used.

Mixed spice is a most commonly used, since it is sold in that form in the UK. However a combination of spices using cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice with, maybe, coriander, cardamom, ginger and cloves is a great alternative. If mixing your own spices do it to your preference, though cinnamon might be the main ingredient.

Then, for the remaining ingredients, we have milk, eggs, butter, salt and sugar. These are staple ingredients usually already in your cupboard or fridge.

Recipe

The recipe is very easy indeed. Simply tear the bread into pieces and place it in a large bowl. To that add the mixed dried fruit, some lemon zest and the chopped peel. Add the spices too and a little salt then pour in the milk. Squeeze all of that in your hands to create a combined mush. That is left to sit for a short while.

Then beat the eggs and sugar together. Pour and stir that into the bread mixture. Incorporate melted butter too and fill a prepared cake pan. Sprinkle Demerara sugar over the top. Then place the pudding into the over to bake for 90 minutes.

My Bread Pudding

After baking for 90 minutes the pudding was ready. I left it in the pan for 15 minutes. Then I took the pudding out of the to cool on a wire rack.

I cut the still warm pudding into some squares ready to taste.

The texture was simply perfect, soft and dense. With the fruit and spice to complement the dense bread it the flavour was awesome.

Serving the pudding warm with custard really is a treat.

Another lovely dessert recipe is Steamed Lemon Sponge Pudding.

Traditional Bread Pudding – British Recipe

Recipe by geoffcooCourse: Cakes, DessertsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

16

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

30

minutes

A lovely British recipe for an old fashioned favourite.

Ingredients

• 500g(1 lb 2oz) bread, torn into small pieces

• 500g(1lb 2oz – about 4 cups) mixed dried fruit

• 85g(2/3 cup) chopped mixed peel

• 5g(1 1/2 tsp) mixed spice

• 600ml(2 1/2 cups minus 4 tbsp) milk

• 150g(3/4 cup) light brown sugar

• 100g(7 tbsp)melted butter

• 2 medium eggs(large in USA)

• zest from 1 lemon

• 3g(1/2 tsp) salt

• 25g(2 tbsp) Demerara sugar

Directions

• Place the bread into a large bowl.
• Add the mixed dried fruit, the chopped mixed peel, mixed spice and lemon zest and mix to combine.
• Pour in the milk and use your hands to squeeze everything into a combined mush.
• Leave the mixture to sit of 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350f and grease, or line, an 8 inch square cake tin.
• Beat the eggs and sugar together and pour it over the bread mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
• Pour in the melted butter and again stir to combine.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out to level it over the base.
• Sprinkle demerara sugar over the top.
• Bake the pudding in the oven for 90 minutes.
• Remove the pudding from the oven and leave in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
• Cut the bread pudding into squares and serve while still warm.