How To Make A Brioche Bread And Butter Pudding

Layers of buttery brioche in a creamy vanilla custard, with plump raisins, demerara sugar and cinnamon, speckled with Madagascan vanilla seeds.
Ingredients:

For The Pudding:

• 1 x 300g (11oz)  brioche loaf
• 50g (2oz)  butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
• 100g (4oz)  raisins or sultanas
• 3 tbsp  demerara sugar or muscavado sugar

For the custard:

• 3  eggs
• 75g (3oz)  caster sugar
• 150ml (5fl oz)  double cream
• 600ml (1 pint) full-fat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
• 1  small lemon finely grated zest

Preparation:

1. You will need a 28cm (11in) wide-based round ovenproof dish, and a roasting tin large enough to place it in.
2. Cut the brioche loaf into 1.5cm (⅝in) slices and brush each slice with melted butter on both sides. Arrange the slices in a spiral in the buttered dish and scatter over the sultanas.
3. To make the custard, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together by hand until well mixed. Pour the custard over the brioche in the dish and gently press the exposed bread crusts down into the liquid. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and leave to stand for about 30 minutes (see tip).
4. While the pudding is standing, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4 and grease the dish with a little butter.
5. Half-fill the roasting tin with boiling water, and place the ovenproof dish in this. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until golden on top and puffed up. The layers will shrink down a little on cooling. Serve warm with cream.