Irish Bread And Butter Pudding Recipe

Are you looking for a rich, sweet, and unique dessert idea that's perfect for a holiday meal or to top off an every day dinner? If so, you're looking in the right place with this Irish bread and butter pudding recipe from chef and recipe developer Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge. It only requires a few minutes of hands-on work, and that work can be done well before you plan to serve the dish, so it's a great dessert option for those busy times. Do the prep in the morning and then, hours later, you need only pop the prepped dish into a heated oven.

And, if you're looking for ways to pair this tasty treat with other sweets, Olayinka says: "Hot Custard would be great, or ice cream." Not that it needs any pairing, as it's perfectly sweet on its own. Now let's gather our ingredients and get cooking! Or at least get prepping, because we can always do the cooking later.

It doesn't take anything fancy to make this rich and satisfying dessert. Just gather slices of white bread, plenty of butter, some milk, some heavy cream, four whole eggs plus three additional egg yolks, a cup of white granulated sugar (divided), a teaspoon of cinnamon, and about a cup of sultanas (which are just raisins, FYI, and just about any raisin variety will do fine). As you can tell by the ingredients list, this is going to be one rich, decadent dessert — and do we even want our desserts any other way?

Begin the recipe by slicing the crusts of the bread and slicing each piece into two triangles. Then lay them out on a cutting board and butter the bread slices. Next, arrange the individual triangles in a casserole dish so that they are largely overlapping and completely fill the bottom of the dish. Now pour on the raisins, making sure they spread out evenly over the bread.

Make the custard in a mixing bowl by combining the eggs, the egg yolks, the heavy cream, the milk, ¾ cup of sugar, and cinnamon. Combine all that well with a whisk. "Just ensure to mix the eggs properly," says Olayinka. "The custard is a pretty heavy mixture so sometimes the yolks get missed and left." Now pour the custard mixture onto the bread and then sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of sugar on top of everything.

Once the custard is poured over and the sugar sprinkled on, set the dish aside for 20 minutes, and meanwhile heat the oven to 350 F. You can also cover it and pop it in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight if need be. 

When it's time to get cooking, place the dish, uncovered, in the oven and cook it for 40 minutes. Then, take the bread pudding out of the oven and set it aside for 20 minutes for the custard to set. Just like that, it's time to serve and enjoy! If you have leftovers, they will keep for a day or two if kept in an airtight container in the fridge.