Grandad’s bread & butter pudding (the memory version)

Cooking is not an exact science. My memory is not exact either. Here goes.

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf sliced white bread
  • 1 tub butter (or whatever passes for butter in your fridge)
  • 1 packet soft brown sugar
  • 1 packet sultanas (or dried fruit of your fancy)
  • 1 nutmeg + grater (or powdered nutmeg you cheater)
  • 1 container single cream
  • 1 pint and a bit milk (NOT skimmed though)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 reasonably sized oven proof dish
  • 1 measuring jug – probably about a pint and a half sized. Ish.

Ok.

  1. Turn oven to about 180° Centigrade (or probably about 160°ish if you’ve got a fan-assisted oven). You weirdos with Fahrenheit are on your own.
  2. This is where it gets messy. Scoop out a dollop (highly scientific) of butter using your hand. Liberally coat the inside of the dish.
  3. Butter the entire loaf of bread.
  4. Cut off the crusts. You can make croûtons or feed them to the birds. Whatever.
  5. Cut buttered, de-crusted slices into half – triangle-stylee.
  6. Cover the bottom and sides of dish with 1 layer of buttered bread. If you’re good at tessellating, this is your chance to shine.
  7. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of sugar over the bread and, I guess, a small handful of sultanas. Grate a bit of nutmeg over.
  8. Do another layer of bread.
  9. Repeat 7. and 8. until you run out of bread.
  10. Don’t put sultanas on the last layer of bread though.
  11. Crack the egg into a measuring jug and whisk it a bit with a fork.
  12. Add the entire container of cream to the egg and whisk it a bit more.
  13. Fill the rest of the jug with milk and whisk a bit more.
  14. Slowly pour the stuff in the jug over your bread, be careful not to dislodge the bread too much.
  15. Squish down the bread.
  16. Add milk until the bread is all covered.
  17. Whack it in the oven for about half an hour and then take a look to see if it looks delicious and not burnt. If not delicious looking yet, give it a bit extra time until it reaches optimum deliciousness.
  18. Take it out the oven. Be careful, it’s hot.
  19. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

As one of my previous house-mates commented, this is basically fat, with some more fat on it, covered in fat, with some more fat and a bit of bread.