Bread Pudding - Great way to use left over not so fresh bread

This recipe was the frugal housewives way of using up left over bread (back in Malta, bread was delivered to your door every morning - and sometimes even twice - by the baker himself.) Bread was also an important part of your meal. The best bread to use would be a traditional loaf and not the 'sliced' sandwich type but you really can use any type.

INGREDIENTS

1 loaf bread (a few days old)

50 g butter

125 g sugar ( I mix brown and regular)

2-3 eggs

Some milk (to soak bread in)

1 apple peeled and grated (optional)

5 tablespoons cocoa powder (try use a good quality one and not drinking chocolate!)

200 g pine nuts, chopped

200 g raisins

2 tablespoons candied peel

2 teaspoons mixed spice ( I use nutmeg and cinnamon - but it’s a matter of taste!)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon brandy

1 tablespoon extra sugar for the top - coarse brown is the best!

METHOD

Cut bread into squares and soak in some milk until soft.

Pre heat oven to 200C and grease a rectangular baking dish measuring about 30cm by 20cm. Squeeze out excess milk from the bread. (get your hands in there!)

Put the soggy bread in a processor with the other ingredients except the dried fruit and pine nuts and mix well.

Add the dried fruit and pine nuts and pulse until combined.

Spread in the baking dish and flatten surface with a spatula.

Sprinkle the extra sugar on top.

Bake for about an hour, until it feels firm . serve warm or at room temperature - but I also love it cold !

Christmas Pudding

The most British of desserts, the traditional Christmas pudding was always a must at home. It would be made several months in advance, then re-steamed a few days before christmas. Tradition also dictated that a silver sixpence would be put in the mixture for a lucky person to find (and hopefully not choke on!) A sixpence does not exist any more - let alone a silver one but I do remember putting one in!
Another tradition was that everyone in the family would stir the pudding and make a wish.

This is a great recipe adapted from the
 Telegraph on line

Butter a pudding basin (8-10in/20-25cm) and line the base with a circle of baking paper. Into a very large bowl put 4oz/115g raisins, 4oz/115g sultanas, 4oz/115g chopped Smyrna figs, 4oz/115g chopped pitted prunes and 4oz/115g chopped dates.


Add 4oz/115g grated pumpkin and 1 grated  apple. Pour over 3½ fl oz/100ml cider or ale and leave to stand for about 20 minutes, until the raisins have plumped up a little.

Add 2 beaten eggs and 2 extra egg yolks, 2 tbsp black treacle and 4oz/115g dark muscovado sugar. Stir in 4oz/115g ground almonds, 4oz/115g vegetable suet  and 3oz/85g grated plain chocolate .
Sift together 4oz/115g white  flour , ½ tsp ground mixed spice, ½ tsp grated nutmeg and ½ tsp ground cinnamon and fold well into the pudding.

Spoon into the greased basin (or basins, if you are making more than one smaller pudding, in which case reduce cooking time by two thirds). Cover the surface of the pudding with another circle of baking paper.

Cut a large piece of baking paper (big enough to cover the bowl and be tied down) and a similar-sized piece of foil. Lay one on top of the other and fold to make a pleat so they hold together.

Lay over the bowl and tie down with a piece of string. Place in a large, deep pan and pour water in until it reaches halfway up the basin.

Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, turn down to a slow simmer and steam for about 6 hours. Allow to cool and store at room temperature. From time to time, open the seal and sprinkle with brandy. You will need to steam the pudding again for about 3 hours before serving it.

Maltese Bread Pudding - pudina tal-hobz

Bread pudding is a great way to use up any stale bread you may have. You can use lemon or orange peel, any type of nuts, and rasins , sultanas, coconut or  any type of candied peel. The fun part is that you can really add anything you want. The pudding can be eaten warm, with custard on top, or cold. This is a really fun dessert to make. There is  a recipe in Maltese on Ghandi Pjacir where I got my inspiration!

Ingredients
1500 gms of 2 day old white bread
(or 2 loaves)
¼ litre milk
1 glass dark rum
(or brandy)
3 eggs (beaten)
100 gms  sultanas or rasins
3 tbs cocoa powder
3 tbs sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
50 gms  butter
grated rind of 1 lemon
50 gms (or 1.76 oz) candied orange peel or glace cherries
1 cup pine nuts (optional)

Method
Soak the bread in water and immediately squeeze out the excess.

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix together well.
Turn into a greased tin and bake for 1 hour at 190-200°C.
Pudding is ready when a kinfe inserted into it comes out clean.