Bread and butter pudding is one of my all-time favourite desserts. It can be crispy on the outside, then soft and almost gooey on the inside.

The traditional recipe calls for raisins and sultanas instead of chocolate, but I hate raisins so chocolate is my go-to!

It re-heats well covered with aluminium foil in a hot oven, served with some cream and ice cream.

Just be careful, make sure you set an alarm and it actually goes off, otherwise, you will end up with a burnt top (because of the sugar) which I have done on a number of occasions.

Ingredients:

55g Soft butter
1 slices bread, cut diagonally across
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
350ml milk
50ml heavy cream
2 large free range eggs
25g white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
White chocolate melts
Milk chocolate melts

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Grease a 1 litre pie dish with a little butter. Spread each of the bread triangles with butter.

Cover the base of the pie dish with overlapping triangles of bread, butter side up.

Sprinkle a mixture of white chocolate and milk chocolate melts evenly over the bread, then lightly sprinkle with a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon. Repeat this layer one more time or until the dish is filled, finishing with more chocolate melts on top.

In a saucepan, gently heat the milk and cream – do not boil.

In a large baking bowl, beat the eggs with ¾ sugar and the vanilla extract until light and airy and pale in colour. Pour the warm milk over the eggs and continue beating until all the milk is added.

Pour the egg mixture slowly and evenly over the bread until all the liquid is added. Gently press the surface with your hand to push the bread into the liquid. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the surface then leave to one side for 30 minutes.

Bake the pudding in the hot oven for 40-45 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and the pudding well risen and the egg is set. Serve hot.