New twist on an old favourite: tuck into lashings of buttered panettone pudding.

THE mention of traditional stodgy, sweet puddings like Spotted Dick and sticky toffee pudding can give us a warm feeling of nostalgia for our childhood, but it seems they are in danger of dying out altogether.

Research shows they're fast becoming an endangered species as the nation - hard-pressed for time - shuns them.

The makers of Bird's custard are so worried that they've called on MPs to support a campaign to get traditional treats back on canteen menus in hospitals, schools and prisons.

Most commonly served with lashings of custard and once the mainstay of school dinners these puddings are now probably served only once a year in the average home.

Annie Bell, author of Gorgeous Desserts (Kyle Cathie, £14.99), counters voices of gloom warning of the imminent demise of traditional English afters'.

She says: "I think it's highly unlikely we'll ever forget the traditional puds we grew up with, regardless of trends and fashions.

"We might tweak them, pare them down, glam them up, or even give the occasional new one the honour of becoming a tradition, but they are writ large in our memories and most of us cling tenaciously to the nostalgia."

It could be hard to resist her twist on the humble bread-and-butter pudding - buttered panettone pudding.

WHAT DO I NEED?

Serves 6:

3 medium eggs

150g golden caster sugar

425ml double cream 425ml milk

softened unsalted butter for spreading

10-12 x 1cm slices panettone, cut as wedges from a 500g loaf

1 vanilla pod

90g apricot jam, warmed and sieved (optional)

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/Gas Mark 4. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl, then whisk in the cream and milk. Butter the panettone and arrange in overlapping slices to cover the base of a 35cm (2.5 litre) oval gratin or other shallow ovenproof dish.

The centre of an oval dish may take two slices side by side; the narrow ends may hold only one.

Pour the custard through a sieve over and around the panettone. Tuck the vanilla pod beneath the custard in the centre.

Place the gratin dish in a roasting pan with cold water that comes two-thirds of the way up the sides. Bake for one hour until the custard is puffy and set, and the bread golden. Brush the surface of the bread with the apricot jam; this bit is optional but gives the pudding a lovely sticky glaze. Serve immediately.

Print   Email this