Bread & Butter Pudding with Lemon Curd and Raisins

 

I hope you aren't getting sick of lemon flavoured goodies yet.   Personally I can't get enough of lemons.  The Toddster says he iso fond,  although he doesn't mind the flavour as long as it's not overly tart.



One thing I love to do with them is to make my own Lemon Curd.  Until you have tasted homemade lemon curd . . . you haven't lived.  Seriously.  It's not that difficult to make either.  I show you a step by step recipe HERE.  Go take a look and then come right back. 



Of course once you have some lemon curd in the house, you need to find ways to use it, as homemade lemon curd won't last as long as the stuff you buy in the shops which has preservatives added.   You could just sit there and eat it with a spoon . . . it is that good, yes . . . but you can do so much more with it.

 

Today I made a delicious Bread and Butter Pudding with Raisins and Lemon Curd.  It was fabulous.  I think bread and butter pudding is one of the easiest puddings you can make.  Basically if you have a few standard ingredients in the house, you have the makings of a bread and butter pudding.



Stale bread, butter, eggs, milk, cream, a bit of sugar, vanilla and some raisins and you have the makings of a very basic and delicious bread and butter pudding.  But add a bit of something else like marmalade, jam or . . . lemon curd, and you have something that is FABULOUS!



It's simple and yet . . . it's guest worthy.  I would serve this to anyone.   It's rich and silky.   It's studded with sweet little nuggets of lemon juice soaked sultanas . . . .  of course if you have it you could soak them in limoncello instead,  which would be nice too



These little nuggets and that rich custard is mingled with buttered bread and the sweet/tart delicious tang of lemon curd.   It's all crisp and buttery on the outsides  . . .

 

Unctuoualy difficult to resist once you dig down into that lemon flavoured custard on the insides, and again layered with more of those lemony raisins.  Altogether this is quite a special dessert . . . and it all started with a loaf of day old bread and a few eggs . . . I love the simplicity of recipes such as this.  Who needs complicated?

*Bread & Butter Pudding with Lemon Curd & Raisins*

Serves 6  

Printable Recipe  

If you haven't gotten down to making that jar of lemon curd just yet, get making it.  You will want to try this!  Adapted from The Great British Farm Cookbook.  

100g sultanas (2/3 cup)

the finely grated zest of one small unwaxed lemon, plus 1 TBS juice

7 (1/2-inch thick) slices of firm fresh white bread, crusts removed

50g softened butter (3 1/2 TBS)

4 heaped TBS of good quality lemon curd (Homemade is great!)

250ml whole milk (1 cup plus 1 TBS)

250ml of double cream (1 cup plus 1 TBS whipping cream)

3 medium free range eggs

25g caster sugar (scant 3 TBS)

1/2 tsp vanilla

icing sugar to dust, optional  

Place the sultanas and the lemon juice into a bowl.  Leave for one hour to soak (or overnight).  You want them to soften and soak up the juice.  

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5.  Butter a shallow 1 1/2 litre baking dish.    

Butter the slices of bread and spread generously with the lemon curd.  Cut each slice into 4 triangles.  Place half of the slices on the bottom of the baking dish, butter/curd side up.  Cover with half of the soalked sultanas.  Arrange the remaining triangles over top decoratively, buttered side up and scatter with the remaining sultanas.  

Whisk together the milk, cream,  lemon zest, sugar, eggs and vanilla, beating well together.  Pour this mixture over top of the bread in the dish.   Leave to soak in for 5 minutes, pushing the bread down occasionally.  Place the dish in a large deep roasting tray.   Pour boiled water from the kettle into the roasting tray to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.  

Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown.  Remove from the boiling water bath.  (This is called a Bain Marie by the way)  Leave to stand for a few minutes.  Dust with icing sugar if using and serve warm, with some more cream for pouring if desired.