saffron bread and butter pudding
Saffron bread and butter pudding turns leftover panettone into a pudding with a spice from a part of the world where the Christmas story originates. A makeover pudding, where panettone moves from the realms of breakfast to celebratory feasting. Zejd’s saffron from the Bekaa Valley adds a whiff of the eastern Mediterranean. Its aroma marries well with the enriched bread studded with fruit and candied peel, turning the just set custard into a rich golden colour. Bread and butter pudding becomes regal!
We based ours on Simon Hopkinson’s recipe from Roast Chicken and other Stories. As he says, it can be a delicious thing if it is made with good ingredients. We warmed the saffron strands gently for 30 secs before grinding them in a pestle and mortar. This helps it infuse better in the warm creamy milk. But if you don’t have time, left whole, the strands will still turn the milk a golden hue. Leaving the custard for 30 minutes before cooking as Hopkinson suggests, allows the panettone to absorb the liquid. We put our dish in a roasting tin of cold water, bain-marie style, so the custard cooks evenly and gently in the oven.
serves 4
ingredients
4 generous slices of panettone, or pan dulce
3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
250ml full fat milk
150ml double cream
50g caster sugar
a pinch of Zejd’s saffron (ground in a pestle and mortar if you have one)
method
- Lightly butter a deep oven-proof oval dish. Arrange the slices of panettone in the dish, overlapping if you can.
- Warm the milk and cream in a small pan, until it is just beginning to steam around the edges. Remove from the heat, and add the saffron. Stir and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the whole eggs and the egg yolks together with the sugar until well blended but not frothy.
- Add the saffron to the egg mixture and stir.
- Pour the mixture through a sieve over the slices of panettone, and leave for 30 minutes, if you can.
- Set the oven to 350 F/ 180C/ 170 C fan/ Gas 4. Put the dish in a roasting dish and fill with cold water until it reaches halfway up the side of the dish.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then check to see if the custard is just set and golden. It may need a little longer. Then remove from the roasting dish and leave to cool slightly before serving.
Serve with double cream.