Bread and butter pudding

I had some leftover bread in the fridge and was contemplating chucking them.

Should I steam the bread? Or make some french toast?

How about some bread and butter pudding?

What better way to use up stale bread? :) Bread and butter pudding is the ultimate comfort food and would be a canny way for using up bread/buns/loafs that are almost past their best.

This sweet, rich and stodgy dessert goes great with custard or ice cream, and in this unforgivingly cold (and sometimes wet) weather, I think it pairs best with a cup of hot cocoa. For a little extra kick, you can soak the raisins in rum or add a shot of liquor to the egg mixture.

Bread and butter pudding makes a warm, comforting dessert, perfect for an after-dinner treat. It reheats well in the oven (covered with a foil so it doesn't dry out too much), so you can have the warmed leftovers for breakfast on a cold morning too! :)

What?

• 4 slices of bread
• Butter for greasing and buttering
• Raisins
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 25 g sugar

How?

1. Cut the crusts off bread and slice it diagonally into triangles.
2. Spread the bread with butter and place a layer in a greased dish, butter side up. Sprinkle the layer of bread with raisins, nutmeg and cinnamon (to taste!),
3. Add another layer of buttered bread. Alternate with the raisins, nutmeg and cinnamon until all the bread have been used. 
4. Warm the milk to about 65 degC (do not boil).
5. Beat the egg with half of the sugar and stir it into the warm milk.
6. Strain the egg mixture over the bread, and sprinkle the top with raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon and the remaining sugar. 
7. Leave it to stand for 30 minutes.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degC for 30-40 minutes until the custard has set and the top slightly browned.