Background:
This is a comfort food that my family used to make – and since we baked our own bread ( as I do twice a week) its a great use of stale bread. In our little farm we take all leftovers or stale food and add it to our home-created compost – which gets recycled again into the plants we grow and back onto the table. Very eco-friendly and also makes us have a good feeling that nothing is really going to waste even if we do not eat it. This can be served as a dessert with vanilla ice cream or if you are watching your calories, with cool whip which is pretty low in calories and tastes good but be sure to serve immediately.My favorite accompaniment is custard – in the old country we made it from scratch – but there is no need. You can find Birds Custard in many markets or on line and mix it with milk – and you have a lovely rich hot sauce. I must admit that I cannot resist this dessert – so be forewarned – it is addicting!
Ingredients:
4 slices of light wheat bread or stale white bread, crusts cut off
4 tablespoons of butter
Half cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
Half to one cup of raisins or currants
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Directions:
1. Remove crusts from bread slices
2. Butter thickly
3. Place butter side down in a greased casserole or baking dish which is oven proof
4. Sprinkle raisins or currants over the bread
5. Beat the eggs well and stir in the sugar, salt and milk.
6. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread and set aside for 30 minutes to let the liquid soak into the bread.
7. Bake the pudding covered at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
8. Uncover the pudding and bake a further 10- 15 minutes or until the top is golden.
9. Serve the pudding hot with golden syrup honey or jam.
ALTERNATE:
After step 2, add jam to the bread and place jam side down. I use our home made preserves ( see Grapefruit Orange Marmelade) and that adds a lovely edge to this dessert.
