Making puddings and desserts using up stale bread originates in the Middle Ages and since then many recipes have emerged, most of them using breadcrumbs. The bread-and-butter pudding, which has become a national dish, differs in its layering of slices of bread soaked in custard and sprinkled with dried fruit and sugar. In the nineteenth century it became a favourite of both rich and poor, in domestic dining rooms, school refectories and restaurants.
You can play around with the recipe using various ingredients. You can use brioche, hot cross buns or panettone instead of the bread; flavour the custard with orange zest, chocolate, or anything that takes your fancy; and you can use any dried fruit you like e.g. dried apricots, dried cherries etc. A friend makes a delicious bread and butter pudding using brioche sprinkled generously with cointreau and a custard flavoured with orange zest.
