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bread and butter pudding ...

Turn waste into delicacies!

Originating from the early 17th century, bread and butter pudding is one of Britain's oldest and well-loved puddings. Having fallen out of favour back in the 1990s, this pudding is now definitely back on the menu.

Many celebrity chefs have made claim to having re-invented this pudding by adding all nature of fancy ingredients, why, in my book you really don't need to. To me the whole point of making this is to use leftover bread and cheap store cupboard ingredients, and the recipe I use is one from the Victory Cookbook by Marguerite Patten.

- The celebrations for VE and VJ days in 1945 might well have been the time when the farmer's wife would decide to make a real bread and butter pudding with butter and shell eggs - a rare extravagance - an excerpt from the book. Such humble ingredients, all of which we very much take for granted nowadays.

6 slices of white bread spread with butter
3 oz (75g) sultanas
3 eggs
2 oz (50g) sugar
1 pint (600ml) milk

Layer squares of bread and butter with the sultanas in a 2 pint (1.2 litre) pie dish. Beat the eggs with the sugar, add the milk and then pour over. I always allow to stand for about 30 minutes before baking in the oven (150oC, Gas Mark 2) until just firm.

Some restaurants serve this pudding with cream or extra custard, you really don't need to, it is moist enough to eat as it is, warm and straight from the dish!