A traditional bread & butter pudding – stale bread spread with butter, flavoured with sugar & spices then soaked in milk & eggs before baking – has variants the world over for using up dry bread or other spoils of the bakery. It turns out that all of our Grannies were miles ahead on the no-waste agenda.

What you may not appreciate is that this concept can be adapted to any number of both savoury and sweet variations. Use savoury options anywhere you would otherwise use potatoes, or even as the main event for a lunch or vegetarian meal.

The main difference between a bread & butter pudding and a bread-pudding in my mind is whether you slice & layer the bread (= ‘bread & butter pudding’) or turn the bread into crumbs. The former gives a distinction between a crunchy top & softer middle, usually with distinct layers of flavour, the latter has a more dense cake-like texture, evenly flavoured throughout.

This page attempts to give a template for a layered, bread & butter style pudding. Sweet or savoury, butter optional.

Serves 6 as a side dish (savoury) or dessert (sweet)

Ingredients

Stale Bread	200-ish	grams
Something to moisten the bread but protect it from just dissolving into the milk – butter in a traditional recipe but experiment with whatever you have		enough to cover each slice
Milk (sweet or savoury variants) or Stock (savoury)	200-ish	millilitres
Eggs	3
Flavouring		Sweet or Savoury

 

Flavouring Ideas

Savoury – olives, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, rocket, herbs, mustard, marmite, cheese. Go meaty with bacon or ham or fishy with anchovies or even tinned mackerel…

Sweet – banana, chocolate, speculoos, nuts, fruit, jam, marmalade, Baileys, …

Main Equipment

1. Approx 30x20cm ovenproof dish

Method

1. Slice the bread into slices around 1cm thick.
2. Spread each slice of bread with any flavouring that is fit for spreading.
3. Grease an oven dish to fit your finished dish – around 30x20cm should do.
4. Place a layer of flavouring-spread bread at the bottom of the dish.
5. Place a layer of any chunkier flavouring.
6. Repeat with as many layers as you have bread & flavouring for.
7. Infuse the milk (if using) with anything suitable by bringing to the boil & allowing to cool. For example, this could be infused with vanilla for sweet recipes, onion & bay for savoury.
8. Strain the cooled milk & whisk in the eggs, or simply whisk the eggs into a cooled stock.
9. Pour over your infused milk (or stock) & egg mixture – you want it to sit just below the surface of the bread as the bread will soak up some of the liquid & you want a crunchy top.
10. Decorate the top with bread crumbs or any suitable topping (flaked almonds, orange slices, mozarella…). You want a bit of a crispy top but nothing burnt – so anything that is too dry won’t work.
11. Dot with butter if your topping is on the dry side. By dotting I mean put little bits of butter evenly across the surface. This will ensure you get a golden crispy top rather than just burnt. If your topping is cheese for example, you can skip this step.
12. Leave for 15-20 mins to allow the bread to soak up the liquid before cooking. This ensures you get an even textured dish rather than omelette at the bottom & soggy bread on top. Weight the top with a plate if you want to expedite the process.
13. Bake in a medium-hot (200c) oven for 30-40 minutes – until set with crunchy golden top.

Serve a savoury version anywhere you would serve mashed potatoes or as a main course if you have gone big on the fillings.

Serve a sweet one either for dessert or allow to cool & divide into individual portions for eating on the move.