November 19, 2012

Cointreau Spiked Bread + Butter Pudding


Hey there, how have you been? What's new in your life? Tell me all. Feels like we haven't had a chat in ages. Recently, everything just feels like its go-go-go. College, work, college, work. Mad hectic. Life gets a bit stressful in the lead to up Christmas-just one big balancing act. Trying to do the things you should already have done and get cracking on the things you need to be doing! 

Why do we do this to ourselves? Does it matter that I don't have any mincemeat made for mince pies yet? Never mind an actual Christmas pudding or that I still haven't shredded the gigantic pile of papers on my desk. What's that great, philosophical saying?,'take a chill pill'. Wanna know how I chill? I cook-surprise! Honestly, on a day off I'll gladly spend it in the kitchen cooking away listening to music.


I'm getting a start on some Christmas recipes. You may love me or hate for this because we're still in November, but, its happening! Don't fight it. 

I remember making bread and butter pudding a lot when I was smaller. My Great-Aunt used to collect me from primary school. We'd come home do some homework and make some pud'! I had it for the first time, in a veeeerrryy long time, over the weekend. It was good-brought back a lot of memories. I love eating things that conjure up memories.  


I made this bread and butter pudding with stale brioche-feel free to use stale slice pan/croissants/panettone. For a Christmas feel, I added some dried cranberries and a generous amount of Cointreau-the delicious orange liquor.  If kids are going to be eating this, you can leave out the Cointreau and use orange juice instead.

It's warming, sweet, custardy and in my opinion-the only way to use up stale bread!!

Enjoy,
Holly,x 


The addition of dried cranberries makes this bread and butter pudding nice and Christmassy!


An immense (adult) orange flavour comes from Cointreau-an orange liquor.


Pour 50ml of Cointreau over the fruit (or 60ml it really doesn't matter!!)  Allow the fruit to steep while you get on with everything else.


 Take your stale brioche/bread/croissants and butter them. I cut mine into triangle shapes to make the pudding look pretty-not necessary! 


Place a layer of brioche in the bottom of a dish, buttered side down...


...sprinkle over the soaked fruit and continue layering with the bread. Drizzle over the Cointreau the fruit was soaking in-waste not want not!


For the custard: whisk together cream, milk, Cointreau, sugar and eggs...


...until well combined, pale and velvety smooth.


Pour over half the custard, allow to sit for 1 minute so the stale brioche absorbs it


Pour over the remaining custard, pushing the bread down with your hands and allow to sit for 10 minutes before baking at 180°C.

Recipe, serves 8-10

350ml Cream
350ml Milk
175g Granulated Sugar
4 Eggs
8-14 Slices of Stale Brioche/Panettone Style Bread, Slice Pan or Croissants
100g Sultanas
100g Dried Cranberries
50ml+100ml Cointreau/Orange Juice
Butter, for buttering bread

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Place the sultanas and dried cranberries in a bowl-pour over 50ml of Cointreau  and set aside. 
Butter the bread with some butter and set aside. 
For the custard: in a bowl whisk together the cream, milk, sugar, Cointreau  and eggs until well combined.
In a dish-layer up the buttered bread, sultanas and dried cranberries, drizzling over the Cointreau  the fruit was soaked in. 
Pour half the custard over the bread and allow to sit for 1 minute-use your hands and push the bread down so that if soaks up all the custard.
Pour over the remaining custard-allow to sit for 10 minutes, pushing the bread down once or twice so that it absorbs all the custard. 
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
Remove and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving. 

*As the pudding cooks keep an eye on the bread-if it is colouring to quickly, push the bread below the custard so that it no longer is sticking up.



2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Bread and butter pudding is such a comforting winter dish, and it's never too early for this kind!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks :) The weather was so so awful yesterday-we needed something comforting!

    ReplyDelete