Rebellion

I have decided to run away from the Cupcake Army and live as a Cupcaker on the run, embracing all things sweet in life! I cannot live a pure and fulfilled life of Cupcake anymore, I must bake beyond the bun.

Starting with the humble Bread and Butter Pudding! With my personal favourite twist: Baileys!

Tasted. So. Good. (If I do say so myself)

But where's the recipe I hear you cry! Well calm down, it's here! As if I'd leave you stranded and drooling with no clue as to how to make this buttery bowl of goodness. I may be souless, but I'm not mean.

Serves about 6 (Or in my case, 1)

1/2 a loaf of pre-sliced brioche

55g/2oz or 1/4 pack of butter, softened

140g/5oz caster sugar

seeds from 1 vanilla pod

8 free-range eggs

500ml/18fl oz double cream

565ml/1 pint milk

4 shots of Baileys (8 if you're in a good mood...or had a bad day)

250g flaked almonds, toasted until golden

200g Saltanas

Tablespoon of Coca Powder

Icing sugar to dust

Method behind the Madness

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

• Flatten each slice of bread down as flat as possible. Butter each piece thinly but thoroughly with the softened butter, then cut the slices of bread in half and put to one side.
• In a bowl whisk together the sugar, vanilla seeds and eggs till pale and fluffy, then add the cream, the milk and the Baileys and whisk until smooth. (Don't judge me here, but I would like to add that at this point, curiosity did take the better of me, and I found myself through no fault of my own drinking some of the mixture as it was. Yes I KNOW it has 8 raw eggs in, but my Cupcake lord in heaven did it make for a delicious drink. Luckily I had enough left to actually make the actual pudding...Also felt incredibly ill after drinking about a litre of raw egg and double cream, but it really was worth it)
• Lightly toast your almonds in a saucepan. DON'T BURN THEM!
• Take an appropriately sized baking dish/trough and rub the sides with a little butter. Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture then begin to layer the bread, the sultanas, the almonds and a light dusting of cocoa powder in the baking dish. Repeat until everything has been used up, ending with a top layer of bread. Pour over the rest of your egg mixture, using your fingers to pat down the bread to make sure it soaks up all the lovely flavours.Generously dust the top of the pudding with icing sugar and bake in the oven for around 35 minutes or until the custard has set around the outside but is just slightly wobbly in the centre.
• It looks absolutely fantastic when it first comes out of the oven; A giant of a pudding, so make sure you have anyone else around stick their head in the oven to have a look at it in all its glory before it, inevitably, sinks.
• Allow it to cool and firm up slightly. Some people like to serve it with ice cream or double cream (And I applaud those people) but if you get it gooey enough in the middle then it is nice just on its own...even before its cooked.

Original inspiration taken from the lovely Jamie Oliver