Naxxfish

Whenever I went to my Nan’s house, she would always have a large variety of (generally very fatty) home baked goods on offer.  There was one which I could never resist, and this was her bread pudding.  Ever since I got into baking, I’ve been trying to work out what exactly it was and how you’d go about making it.  I didn’t even know what it was called – which made finding a recipe very difficult.  I described it as “a bit like a very moist fruit cake, with sultanas.  More like a jelly than a cake”.

My Nan grew up in a family for whom times were hard, and you really had to make do with what you had.  You couldn’t afford to waste food.  So things like stale bread got turned into something more storable and palatable with what you had on hand.  And, going with that tradition, I have made a slightly different recipe with what I happen to have on hand.  Due to an error of judgement with my milkman, I’ve ended up with a LOT of loaves of bread.  Most of them are frozen, but I don’t get through the thawed ones quick enough, and they go stale before I eat the whole thing.  I also have far too much milk.  Thus, I have been given a perfect opportunity to refine my recipe.

It’s deliciously moist and tasty, hot or cold, and full of flavour, and goes great with tea.

Ingredients

• About 400g of stale (but not mouldy obviously) brown bread, crusts removed
• About 200g of sultanas, or any other dried fruit that you fancy
• 100g of brown sugar (any kind)
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp marmalade
• 1 egg
• 1 pint of milk

Method

1. Remove the crusts from the bread.  Eat the leftovers so you grow up to be big and strong – alternatively share with housemates/friends/partners/pets.
2. Put the bread into a bowl, and break up as much as you can by hand.  Great stress reliever.
3. Empty the milk into the bowl, and mix up the bread good and proper.
4. Add the dried fruit and mix it in.  May as well throw in the mixed spice and cinnamon at this point too.
5. Leave this to soak for about half an hour.  Go do some work or something.  Alternatively, cover and put into the fridge and go to work.
6. Come back.  Add the sugar and marmalade, and mix well.
7. Crack an egg into a cup, beat it with a fork.  Empty it into the mixture, and mix it up some more.
8. Get a pyrex dish, or a nice clean baking dish, and cover it in butter (otherwise it’ll stick to the sides).
9. Empty the mixture into the dish, and put it in an oven pre-heated to about 200C/392F/Gas Mark 4 for about 1.5 hours.
10. After an hour and a half, you should find it’s got a nice dark brown crust over the top, and it’s starting to break away from the sides a bit.  Take it out of the oven, and leave to cool for about 30 minutes.
11. Once it’s cool, you can cut it up and serve it – perhaps with some custard.  Or you can leave it to cool completely and put it in the fridge, for a tasty treat any time of the day (I’ve had it for breakfast, but then, I’m a bit strange).

And there you have it.  Delicious and cheap.  Try it!