Delia Smith's Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

I’ve been hideously busy recently but the good news is that in a few days I will be free for Christmas and free to bake ALL the things! I have however had a little run of Christmas shindigs so here’s a pudding I made for one with my course mates. The first time I had it was at a Sunday dinner where my friend introduced us all to the magic that is chocolate bread and butter pudding. It is a Delia recipe, so you know it’s got to be good.

Ingredients

9 slices of white bread, preferably a tad stale

5oz dark chocolate

3oz butter

15 fl oz whipping cream

4 tablespoons of dark rum (which I omitted because I had no rum)

4oz caster sugar

Large pinch ground cinnamon

3 large eggs

Big pot of chilled double cream to serve

Now first things first, this pudding is better if you assemble it at least 24-48 hours before baking so that the bread soaks up all the chocolatey cream, so give yourself time to do it.

Find a large casserole type dish. Cut the crusts off the bread then slice each into half to make triangles.

In a heat proof bowl gently melt the chocolate, butter, whipping cream, rum, sugar and cinnamon over a pan of simmering water.

Remove from the heat when the chocolate is completely melted. In a separate bowl or jug whisk the eggs.

Add the whisked eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk everything together until well incorporated.

Now here’s a tip which my friend decided to share with me after I made the pudding…pour enough mixture in to cover the bottom of your dish. Then dip each slice of bread individually into the mixture and place in the dish in overlapping rows.

Or what you can do is place half the bread in overlapping rows and pour half the chocolate mixture over it, and then repeat until everything is completely covered.

Cover the dish with cling film and leave the pudding at room temperature for two hours before chilling in the fridge for at least 24, preferably 48 hours.

Another tip…don’t leave the pudding at a tilt all night in the fridge or it will set all squished up to one side and generally look a bit messy like mine…

When you’re ready to cook heat the oven to 180⁰C. Bake on a high shelf for 35-40 minutes and leave to stand for 10 minutes after that before serving with the chilled double cream.

Despite mine looking a bit of a state it tasted nice, I swear!