When I was growing up in England, my mother usually had a freshly-baked cake waiting for us when we arrived home from school. Sometimes it was a butter cake, baked in a slab tin then iced with white icing and cut into rectangles with a glace cherry on each piece. Sometimes it was drop scones (pikelets), which we ate with butter and golden syrup. One of my favourites was bread pudding – quite different to bread and butter pudding, which uses cream and eggs and is served as a dessert. Although it’s called a pudding, we ate it as a cake, still warm from the oven. It’s an old recipe from World War 2, when nothing was wasted and many things, including eggs, were rationed. For a modern twist use chocolate chips instead of the dried fruit or a combination of the two.
Mum’s Bread Pudding
9-10 slices stale bread
125g mixed dried fruit
1 Tbs mixed peel (optional)
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 tsp mixed spice
2 heaped Tbs softened butter
2-3 Tbs white sugar
Soak bread in cold water for half an hour. Squeeze bread to expel as much water as possible, then beat with a fork to remove lumps. Mix all ingredients together and spread into a shallow baking tin about 20x30cm in size, lined with baking paper. Bake at 180°C for a good hour or until nicely browned. Sprinkle liberally with white sugar, cut into squares and serve warm.
I’ve never had this bread pudding, but I imagine it would be very tasty, economical and wonderful for an afternoon tea for several hungry schoolchildren. It’s also a terrific way of using old bread, rather than wasting it. I’m going to make it and see how popular it is with children I care for. Will let you know!
Karen XX
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