I grew up with bread and butter pudding; the wartime kind, odd bits of bread slathered with margarine, sprinkled with sultanas and currants and covered with Mum’s milky custard. I still love eating every version of bread and butter pudding I find, today they are richer, thicker, creamier than my Mum’s version. This recipe is not just your everyday pudding although it does use leftover ingredients, it just happens that the leftovers have to be pain-au-chocolat. Serves 6

3-4 stale pains au chocolat
500ml milk
500ml double cream [if you prefer, instead of the milk/double cream combination you can instead use 1 litre single cream]
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 large egg 4 large egg yolks
½ tsp vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 160C/gas 3.

Butter an ovenproof dish [with the capacity of 1½ litres].

Cut up the pains au chocolat, rough slices about 1 cm thick and arrange them in the dish. Squash them all in.

Put the milk and cream into a pan and bring slowly to almost boiling point. While you are waiting, whisk the egg, the yolks and sugar in a large wide-mouthed measuring jug. When the milk and cream are nearly boiling, pour it over the eggs and sugar, and whisk continuously.

Add the vanilla to the custard then pour over the slices of pain au chocolat. Leave it to rest for at least 10 minutes, to allow the custard to soak in. Place in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes or until the pudding is softly set. 5 to remember
durante la guerra – wartime
la margarina – the margarine
cotidiano/a – everyday
gordo/a – thicker
continuamente – continuously

Recipe from ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’ by Nigella Lawson