Monday 13 June 2011

BREAD PUD



Have you ever made Bread Pudding, or Navvy's Wedding Cake, as it's also known! I haven't made one for years and years...back in the dim and distant past. Yesterday (Saturday) I'd bought a new loaf but there was too much of the old one left in the bread box so I decided to make a bread pud this Sunday morning.
I threw out the crust for the birds after I'd scraped the soft part into a mixing bowl and added water for it to soak in while I went to a tiny car boot in the drizzle with friend Brenda.
When I came back I squeezed as much water out of the soggy bread as I could leaving what looked like a blob of papier mache, to which I added a small amount of flour to absorb any water I hadn't got rid of. I shovelled in lots of sultanas, some sugar, a dollop of melted soft marg, lots and lots of mixed spice (judged by smell, not teaspoons) and an egg.
This sloppy pale brown mixture went into the largest container I had - a shallow dish - and into the oven at Mark 5 for about 35 minutes. I didn't weigh anything, just guesswork.
Considering the size of the chunk of bread I began with it hasn't ended up as large as I'd expected. Perhaps I should have used the crust, too, but nevertheless it's a tasty munch. Most of it has gone already - eaten hot and cold.
Have you made bread pudding?

5 comments:

Bernard said...

Never made any myself, but love it!
Of course after the war nothing was thrown away and bread pud, and bread & butter pud were very common. Bread pud was a good ballast for an empty belly.
You can buy it in Thame Mkt at £1:50 a chunk!
A bit of a 'rip off' me thinks.
How about a dittie from the past:-

"When all of a sudden
A chunk of bread puddin’
Cam flyin' through the air
It hit poor auld Nelly
A shot in the belly
And knocked her tae the flair."
Cheers....B

Marigold Jam said...

Yes I love the stuff but I don't often make it these days as I know I'd eat the lot as my husband doesn't like it! I do sometimes buy a slice at the farmers' market though. When I make mine I use suet instead of the marg. It's good hot as a pud but I like it best cold with a cup of coffee.

Bernard said...

Kath told me when she was young her Mother sang a similar version :-
"All of sudden, a bloomin great puddin, came flying through the air, it hit me Ma, it hit me Pa and knocked him over the chair".

PS As you may have noticed - I collect ditties!

Kath said...

Eh up Silve and Uncle Bernard (and Jane!).
I just cannot think of anything more mouth watering than the smell of bread pudding cooking :-D
A friend of mine bakes bread every day in a bread maker. The unused bread then gets made into pudding.
She told me whenever she had guests for lunch or dinner, she offers them a "posh" pudding or bread pudding and they unfailingly go for the bread pud.

Sylve said...

I seem to have stirred up some memories!
There's none of mine left now, of course. I cut off a chunk each time I go into the kitchen...
Jane - I'm vegetarian so wouldn't use suet but I'm sure my Mum would have done. Do you get those lovely chewy crusts and bottoms - and if so, how do you manage it? Mine always have smooth tops.
I don't know that ditty, Bernard, in either version. I must have had a sheltered childhood!!!