Here’s a recipe your grandmother probably cooked. It’s stood the test of time, and for good reason too. There’s no better excuse to let the bread go stale than to save it up for this crowd-pleasing pud. Perfect for winter dinner parties, it’s cheap and cheerful and will feed an army. Then again, leftovers are oh so sweet. Bread and butter pudding for breakfast anyone? The raw ingredients qualify, so why not the hero dish? Delish.

Bread & Butter Pudding

Serves 6-8

1 cup of sultanas

5 tbs brandy

5 eggs

300ml thickened cream

500ml full cream milk

¼ cup caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

10 thin slices of 2-day-old white bread

100g unsalted butter, softened

2 tbs demerara sugar

Crème fraîche or ice-cream, to serve

Combine sultanas and brandy in a small heatproof bowl and microwave for one minute, then stir, and set aside.

In a large jug whisk together eggs, cream, milk, caster sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom.

Butter both sides of bread, then slice in half.

Lightly grease a 2L-capacity baking dish, then layer pudding with one-third of sultana mixture, half the bread slices, another third of the sultana mixture and remaining bread. Top with remaining sultanas.

Pour cream mixture over the top and gently press down sultanas and bread so it is flat. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Scatter sugar over pudding and bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just set. Remove from oven and brush 1 tbs of melted butter over the top then place under grill on high heat for five minutes or until golden brown. Serve pudding with crème fraîche or ice-cream.

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