--- airs weeknights on SBS (Ch.30) at 6.00pm and 7.00pm on SBS Food (Ch.33). Episodes are also available anytime on . See Adam making his Osborne pudding in the 'Grand Finale Episode on Wednesday 24 August ---
Pudding for breakfast? Tick. A bread and butter pud that's really more a cake? Tick. Savoury version? Yep, bread and butter pudding really is a kitchen chameleon, giving old bread (or brioche, or croissants) a new life in endless ways. Here are a few favourites that show how wide-ranging and delicious the basic idea can be.
We often think of bread and butter pudding as a classic English dish, but of course the idea of using up old bread has translated into custardy (or not) bakes in many other parts of the world - including this Venetian dessert, which can be made with stale bread, but also appears in versions using other grains, such as polenta or buckwheat. "This is quite a soft pudding, not too dense, perfumed with citrus and fennel, full of dried figs and sultanas, and it is to be washed down with a glass of sweet wine, such as Marsala," says Emiko Davies of the recipe she shared with us from her book, Cinnamon and Salt.
Pinza di pane Source: Hardie Grant Books / Emiko Davies
There's no custard here, but the same idea holds true: day-old baguettes transformed into a rich, indulgent pudding. Often served on Good Friday, this golden pudding consists of chunks of bread soaked in a sweet sherry mixture, and topped with queso Oaxaca, a stringy Mexican cheese that is similar to mozzarella.
Bread pudding (capirotada) Source: Chris Chen
This is a Turkish bread pudding made from day-old sourdough bread and a jar of sour morello cherries. The bread slices are buttered and pan fried before being placed in a baking pan and drenched in a thickened cherry syrup along with the cherries, then baked.
Cherry bread pudding Source: Anson Smart
"Bread and butter pudding was my absolute favourite when I was growing up," says Adam Liaw in the new season of The Cook Up, when he shares this take on the classic. An Osborne pudding is made with marmalade, and it's often said that it was a favourite dessert of Queen Victoria when she stayed at Osborne House, then a royal holiday home, on the Isle of Wight. (While English Heritage's Osburne House says there's no evidence that the Queen definitely ate Osborne pudding during her stays, they do confirm that the Queen had a sweet tooth, and that baking was part of royal family life for Victoria, Albert and their children. And no matter where it came from, the idea of a bread and butter pud enriched with marmalade is a royally good idea!) Osborne pudding is often made with brown bread, but this version used brioche, for a smoother, lighter pud.
Osborne pudding Source: Kitti Gould
In this recipe, from the early days of Food Safari, we meet a version that's more like a fruit cake - but made with custard powder. This fruity 'pudding' reflects one of the , with Roman, Arabic, Sicilian, French and English claims on the island before it became a republic in 1974. Puddina takes the English idea of bread and butter pudding and adds an Arabic(ish) twist. Day-old bread is soaked, squeezed and then mixed with sugar, custard powder, cornflour and cocoa to form the base of the pudding. Eggs, dried fruit, almonds, glace cherries and whisky, brandy or sherry round things out before the batter is baked.
Puddina Source: Food Safari
This is where the b&b pud embraces condensed milk... although the result is not intensely sweet. "A classic banana cake from Saigon inspired this bread and butter pudding recipe. It's light and not overly sweet,” says Luke Nguyen of his recipe.
Vietnamese coconut bread and butter pudding Source: Alan Benson
"This healthy take on a comforting dessert makes for a perfect breakfast. You can leave out the butter if you like, and a drizzle of honey for extra sweetness is optional. I do like to keep the crusts on my bread as it adds a nice chewy texture," says Caroline Griffiths of this recipe, which has Medjool dates, almonds, dried apricot pieces and orange blossom water adding to the usual bread+custard idea. Great for a weekend breakfast or brunch where you have time for it to bake.
Orange blossom bread & butter pudding Source: Chris Middleton
If you love bread and butter pudding, and you love tiramisu, and you love self-saucing pudding, then say hello to this indulgent merge. It doesn't use old bread - indeed, it's more like a cousin of the bread and butter pud family, with pieces of a rich, buttery coffee and cocoa yeasted dough wrapped around pieces of chocolate, then cooked like a self-saucing pudding.
Tiramisu self-saucing bread pudding Source: My Market Kitchen
"Who can resist an orange-flavoured pudding that reminds them of childhood, with a touch of Cointreau for the grown-ups? Not me, that’s for sure," says Matthew Evans of this recipe, where dried fruit (he likes a mix of sultanas, raisins and currants) is soaked in Cointreau or Grand Marnier, and the slices of bread are spread with marmalade before layering in the dish.
Marmalade and cointreau bread and butter pudding Source: Alan Benson
Bread and butter pud goes to the savoury side - via America. "Inspired by Southern USA's chicken and dressing, this Australian version uses bread instead of cornbread, mushroom gravy instead of tinned mushroom soup and a supermarket rotisserie chicken," explains Adam Liaw.
Chicken, bread and butter pudding Source: Adam Liaw
Save this one for your festive recipe list - it uses eggnog, which is obviously more common in Canada, where Mary Berg resides, but we do see it here in shops in December too. "I am that person who always buys too much eggnog. So this helps me use up some of the leftovers. It gives my bread pudding a rich, warm, cozy holiday feel," says Berg of her recipe. Topped with a pecan crumble, it is served with a butter sauce that complements the vanilla and orange flavours in the pudding.
Spiced bread pudding with vanilla bean butter sauce Source: Mary's Kitchen Crush
Fruity panettone makes an excellent bread and butter pudding, as this recipe from Monica Cavallaro, rich with rum, marsala and cream, shows.
Panettone bread and butter pudding Source: Adam Liaw
