Over the holidays, Matt’s lovely parents, Bridget and Trevor, came to visit. It was so much fun to play tour guide/tourist in a city I am still a relative newcomer to – we explored Hayes Valley, strolled around the Palace of Fine Arts and took a few road trips to Sonoma, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. Despite my initial fears that our small apartment couldn’t accomodate all four of us for two weeks, it turned out to be plenty large and wonderfully cozy. Instead of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on our coffee table in front of our television, we lingered over long meals at our oft-neglected dining room table and talked in front of the fire. Somehow our place now feels colder and emptier without them.
On New Year’s Eve, Bridget cooked us her version of a traditional English roast, complete with a roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast carrots and parsnips and gravy. But the highlight for me? Her bread and butter pudding. Infinitely better than an American bread pudding {which I realize is very unpatriotic to say}, she created bread and butter “sandwiches” – slathering pieces of bread with a compound butter {infused with nutmeg, cinnamon and orange zest} and marmalade. After cutting the sandwiches into quarters, she stood them up in the dish like soldiers, and poured over a mixture of eggs, cream and milk, leaving the points of the sandwiches poking out like small islands in a sea of custard. When baked, the custard puffed up beautifully, and the whole dish was delicately perfumed with the spices and orange zest in a deliciously subtle way. To make the dish extra special, we all poured additional heavy cream {not whipped} over the top. It was heaven.
Thank you Bridget, for sharing your recipes and stories with me, and letting me follow you around the kitchen. xo
Recipe continued after the jump…
Recipe
- 8 tablespoons {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- zest of 1 orange
- 4 tablespoons good quality marmalade
- 6 slices of white bread
- 1 1/4 c. whole milk
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- 4 large eggs {preferably organic}
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons raw sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix butter, nutmeg cinnamon and orange zest. Use a little of it to butter a medium-sized shallow, ovenproof dish {I used an 8 x 8 baking dish}.
Generously butter the slices of bread on one side, then spread the marmalade on 3 of the slices, and put the other 3 slices on top (buttered side sown) so that you have created 3 sandwiches. Then spread more butter over the top slice of each sandwich and cut each one into quarters to make little triangles.
Then arrange the sandwiches, butter side up, overlapping each other in the baking dish and standing almost upright. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk milk, cream, eggs and granulated sugar. Pour mixture over the bread. Sprinkle raw sugar over bread and custard mixture, and then place in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until it is puffy and golden, and the top crust is crunchy.
This is the first dessert I’ve been intrigued by in a long time. Cheers to Bridget – so happy I got to meet her and Trevor. Xoxo
Thank you Bodes! I know – I was honestly shocked about how head over heels in love with this dessert I fell – we made it again 2 days later because I loved it so much! 🙂 xo
This sounds like a simple dessert with terrific tastes. Thanks for sharing Bridget’s recipe.
Thank you Karen! xo
Cinnamon, butter, orange, custard? Wow. Very decadent, and yes such a simple, traditional dessert! Congratulations to Bridget, and to you! The photography is wonderful.
Thank you Darya! Extremely decadent – especially with the whipping cream poured over! But oh so worth it…xo
oh my…i’m sorry if you hear me swallowing hard..what a wonderful idea to make little butter sandwiches! just think you could “stuff” chocolate chips or rasins or anything you like, oh maybe add cinnamon sugar…oh my wheels are turning with this one… thanks for sharing..im all excited about bread pudding now…lovely post..sarah
Thank you Sarah! Yes – I thought I knew bread pudding, but bread and butter pudding is so much better! There is something about the layering of textures that I fell in love with. I love your idea for various stuffings – I saw Jamie Oliver make one with bananas and dark chocolate – yummy! xo
A delicious classic – and a timely reminder of how I should use someof my freshly made batch of marmalade. Thanks, Tracey
Ooooh yes, if there is a way to improve Bridget’s recipe, it could possibly be with homemade marmalade – love that idea! xo
Nothing better than my Mum’s bread & butter pudding! So glad she could show you the recipe and that you loved it so much – can’t wait for the next one! Love you!
Thanks love! xo
My Gran used to make this and I remember it fondly. It looks delicious! Also very good with panettone and worth trying.
Thank you Phil! I have also heard that Panettone is excellent in bread pudding – do let me know if you give it a try!
You are on a roll with all sorts of goodies! This looks delish! I love orange flavored bread pudding.
Thank you Anne! xo
such a charming post!
Thank you! xo
This looks incredible….my sister would love this!
Thank you! And thanks for stopping by! xo
I never though bread pudding could look so great! That lady is a beauty 🙂
Thank you! And I completely agree with you – Bridget is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. Thanks for stopping by. xo
Good people can only make good thinks. Right?! 😉
Haha – well said! 🙂
Bridget and her bread pudding look lovely. I just love it when friends and family share their recipes with us — it makes them about so much more than the food itself. When someone shares a recipe with me, I always think of them every time I make that dish. Your photos are beautiful.
Thank you! Yes, I completely agree. I will be reminded of Bridget and her and Trevor’s lovely visit with us each time I make this very special recipe…Love how food (and recipes) can conjure up such lovely memories! Thank you for stopping by. xo
I love bread and butter pudding, Beautiful recipe, photo’s and Bridget is lovely.
Thank you! And yes, Bridget is even more lovely in person! 🙂
i have seen so many recipes for bread puddings but this is by far the most unique! i adore the addition of marmlade and orange zest 🙂
Thank you – and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Bridget is beautiful and this is over the top scrumptious!