Bread and Butter Pudding with White Chocolate and Cranberries (English)

This bread and butter pudding is laced with sweet white chocolate, perfectly balanced by the tartness of the cranberries. This cranberry bread and butter pudding recipe produces the ultimate Christmas dessert, not only for its festive flavour, but because it can be prepared in advance to reduce stress on the day it is being served.

Bread and Butter Pudding:
10 slices stale white bread
butter, softened (150 g)
2 tsp. ground mixed spice
cranberries, semi-dried (150 g)
white chocolate chips (200 g)
2 Tbsp. of Demerara sugar

Custard:
4 eggs
6 egg yolks
caster sugar (80 g)
milk (500 mL)
double cream (500 mL)

Satsuma and Cranberry Suzette:
6 satsumas
cranberries, semi-dried (75 g)
caster sugar (200 g)
butter (100 g)
orange juice, freshly squeezed (200 mL)

Begin by preparing the custard. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until pale and smooth. Add the milk and cream to a pan, heat until simmering then remove from the heat. Pour the hot milk over the eggs and sugar, mixing well as you do so.

Grease an ovenproof dish with some butter. Remove the crusts from the sliced bread and butter all of the slices on one side. Cut the slices in half.

Spread out a layer of the buttered bread to cover the bottom of the dish, slightly overlapping each slice. Sprinkle with a good pinch of mixed spice, some cranberries and some of the white chocolate.

Pour over some of the custard to cover the first layer. Repeat this process to make more layers of both the bread and custard until used up, leaving a little custard for serving. Press down firmly, cover with cling film and leave to set in the fridge overnight to allow the bread to soak up the custard.

For the satsuma and cranberry suzette, begin by segmenting the satsumas. Add the sugar to a non-stick pan and heat until a golden caramel forms. Remove from the heat and add the butter.

Shake the pan to mix in the butter, add the orange juice and return to the heat. Bring to the boil and reduce until it reaches the consistency of a caramel sauce. Stir in the cranberries and satsuma segments and warm through.

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C, Gas Mark 3).

Remove the bread and butter pudding from the fridge and sprinkle over some Demerara sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it feels firm when pressed lightly - be careful not to overcook it.

Remove from the oven and spoon over some warm satsuma and cranberry suzette. Serve with custard, perhaps flavoured with some cloves for an extra wintery flavour.

Makes 8 servings.