To kick off the start of the festive season, the culinary team at the Palm Restaurant have put together an easy-to-follow recipe for a mouth-watering bread and butter pudding with a festive twist.
Inject some creativity into your Christmas Day feast and wow your friends and family by following these simple steps.
Ingredients
For the bread and butter pudding:
– 10 slices of stale croissants, white
– 120g of butter, softened
– 2 tsp ground mixed spice
– 150g of cranberries, semi-dried
– 200g of white chocolate
– 2 tbsp of Demerara sugar
For the Custard:
– 4 eggs
– 6 egg yolks
– 80g of caster sugar
– 500ml of milk
– 500ml of double cream
For the Cranberry suzette:
– 75g of cranberries, semi-dried
– 200g of caster sugar
– 100g of butter
– 200ml of fresh orange juice
Method
1. Begin by preparing the custard. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until pale and smooth. Add the milk and cream to a pan, heat until simmering then remove from the heat. Pour the hot milk over the eggs and sugar, mixing well as you do so. Grease an ovenproof dish with some butter. Remove the crusts from the sliced croissants and butter all of the slices on one side. Cut the slices in half.
2. Spread out a layer of the buttered bread to cover the bottom of the dish, slightly overlapping each slice. Sprinkle with a good pinch of mixed spice, some cranberries and some of the white chocolate.
3. Pour over some of the custard to cover the first layer. Repeat this process to make more layers of both the bread and custard until used up, leaving a little custard for serving. Press down firmly, cover with cling film and leave to set in the fridge overnight to allow the bread to soak up the custard.
4. For the cranberry suzette, add the sugar to a non-stick pan and heat until a golden caramel forms. Remove from the heat and add the butter.
5. Shake the pan to mix in the butter, add the orange juice and return to the heat. Bring to the boil and reduce until it reaches the consistency of a caramel sauce. Stir in the cranberries and satsuma segments and warm through.
6. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
7. Remove the bread and butter pudding from the fridge and sprinkle over some Demerara sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it feels firm when pressed lightly – do not overcook it.
8. Remove from the oven and spoon over some warm satsuma and cranberry suzette. Serve with custard.
If you would prefer to sample this delectable dish crafted by someone more gifted in the culinary arts, make your way to Ilala Lodge to enjoy a fabulous Christmas dinner. Aside from this gourmet bread and butter pudding, dishes to look forward to include mint roast leg of lamb, ginger marmalade pork loin roast and cauliflower and chestnut soup.
To book a spot for yourself and your family, simply email fnb@ilalalodge.co.za or call 44737/8/9.
Image Credits: Youtube, jspacefood, Denise Mattox
