Autumn baking has started in my house! The season is famous for its harvest times, turning leaves, cooling temperatures and darkening nights, so we need comfort food to warm us up, like this delicious pudding.
Unlike many other desserts, bread and butter puddings have never truly gone out of fashion. I love this old family favourite with the addition of autumn caramelised apples for even more decadence!
Ingredients:
4-5 medium Granny Smith or Braeburn apples
40g butter, plus extra for brushing the dish
40g Demerara sugar
300g (11oz) brioche bread
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75g (3oz) sultanas
75g (3oz) flaked almonds
For the custard:
4 eggs
75g (3oz) Demerara sugar
150ml (5fl oz) double cream
600ml (1 pint) full-fat milk
For the topping:
3 tbsp Demerara sugar
Lightly grease a 2 pint / 1 litre pie dish with butter
Method:
Peel and cut the apples in half. Remove the cores and then slice apple halves into thin slices, about 1/4-inch thick.
Place butter in a frying pan, add the sugar and mix the apples; cook them for 5 minutes until softened and caramelised, then mix in the cinnamon and remove from the heat
Cut the brioche into medium pieces and layer 1/2 of them in the buttered dish, spoon the apples, scatter over 1/2 the sultanas and 1/2 of the almonds, then add the remaining brioche.
Make the custard by placing all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisking together really well by hand until well mixed.
Pour the custard over the brioche in the dish and gently press the bread down into the liquid. Sprinkle with the remaining sultanas, almonds and Demerara sugar and leave to stand for about 30 minutes.
While the pudding is standing, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas mark 4.
Cover the pudding with foil, half-fill a large roasting tin with boiling water and place the ovenproof dish in this.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, remove foil and cook for another 20 minutes until golden on top and puffed up. The layers will shrink down a little on cooling.
Serve warm or cold with cream, custard or vanilla ice cream.
