Bethany and I absolutely love this comforting Bread and Butter Pudding and believe it or not, the reheated leftovers actually taste even better the next day. This recipe is also a super money saver as it’s ideal for using up all those gluten free end crusts of loaves of bread or (and we’ve all experienced this) the disastrous shop brought loaves that resemble jigsaw puzzles or look like they’ve had a mouse burrow their way through the middle. In our household, all of these pieces are collected up and added to a bag in the freezer for occasions when you need need bread crumbs for a Treacle Tart, Stuffing or in this case a Gluten Free Bread and Butter Pudding.

To make this pudding you’re going to need about a loaves worth of bread, depending on the size of your dish. If you want to achieve an appealing top to the pudding remember to save the best looking slices for the top layer then all the broken bits can be hidden underneath! You’ll need to remember to take your frozen bread out of the freezer to defrost at least an hour before making this.

Gluten Free Bread and Butter Pudding

Ingredients

Gluten Free Bread (see above for quantities)
enough butter to spread on each slice (piece) of bread
150 g dried mixed fruit
125 g granulated sugar
800 ml milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp demerara sugar to top

Instructions

Grease the baking dish well with butter.
Carefully butter each piece of bread ...
Top Tip: have patience if you've use jigsaw bread, to make life easier for yourself, heat the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds to make it easier to spread, it's a fiddly job, but worth it!
Start to arrange the bread in the bottom of the dish then sprinkle some dried fruit and sugar over the layer.
Repeat to make a second layer.
The third layer should be the top of your pudding, arrange this in whatever pattern to see fit and use the remainder of the fruit but this time top with the demerera sugar (this sugar adds a toffee flavour with an extra crunch)
Now you can make your custard mix, beat together the milk, eggs and extract and pour over the pudding.
Leave the pudding to stand for at least an hour to allow the bread to absorb the liquid ...
Top Tip: I find that weighing down the pudding gently by placing a plate or another baking dish on top of the pudding aids the absorption and prevents gaps in the bread that can lead to the top layer becoming rock hard during the baking process.
After an hour check the pudding to see if all the liquid has been absorbed, if the pudding appears too dry spoon a little more milk over the areas.
Bake in a preheated oven on 180C/350F/Gas 4 for about 40 minutes

Just a little note about the pudding dish I’ve used…it’s over 60 years old! It was a wedding present to my Gran and Grandpa and I wouldn’t dream of making my puddings in anything else!