USING UP THE LEFT OVERS - Bread and Butter Pudding

We had some bread left-over after an impromptu garden party for twelve on Bank Holiday Monday. Being left-out in the sunshine for a few hours it had dried out somewhat and so we decided to put it to good use and make a bread and butter pudding. It is an old style school-dinner pudding and brings back happy days of queuing in the canteen for my share of the school cook's speciality, dripping in custard. Nowadays, you can add a glug of sherry to it if you like!

Why not try this simple recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4):
40g butter
4 slices of white bread
4tbs apricot jam
25g mixed peel
25g sultanas
450ml milk
2 egg, beaten  
1tbs sherry

Method:

• Grease a 1 litre or similar oven-proof dish with 15g of the butter
• Butter the bread and spread with the apricot jam. Cut the slices into triangles, then layer in the dish, sprinkling the mixed peel and sultanas between the layers.

• Put the milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat until nearly boiling. Take off the heat and whisk in the eggs and then the sherry. Pour over the bread and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180'C or Gas Mark 4.
• Put the dish into a roasting tin and fill the tin with water to halfway up the sides. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Turn up the heat to 190'C or Gas Mark 5 and cook for another 10 minutes or until crisp and golden on top.
• Dish up with lashings of custard.