Michelin-starred chef Josh Emett brings together over 300 of the most important classic recipes from the world's most acclaimed chefs in his book The Recipe. Chef Emett looks to give home cooks the best Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes from around the world. Among the talent that has contributed recipes to his book are Martha Stewart, David Chang, Dominique Ansel, and Gordon Ramsay.

This Bread & Butter Pudding recipe is a holiday favorite of Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Bread and butter pudding was absolutely my favourite when I was growing up. My mother always made it with cheap sliced white bread, but I’ve experimented with all sorts since: baguette, panettone, brioche, croissants. Pain au chocolat is my current favourite.”

Bread & Butter Pudding

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 tbsp apricot jam
  • 3½ tbsp (50 g) softened butter, plus extra to grease
  • 6 pains au chocolat, cut into slices ½ in (1 cm) thick
  • 1 to 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp light-brown cane sugar/Demerara sugar
  • ¼ cup (35 g) golden raisins/sultanas
  • 2 cups plus 1¼ tbsp (500 ml) whole milk
  • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy/double cream
  • 6 eggs
  • seeds from 2 vanilla beans

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Lightly butter an 18 x 23cm baking dish.
  2. Heat the jam in a pan over a low heat for a couple of minutes until melted. Remove and set aside.
  3. Butter the slices of pain au chocolat on one side, place them in a large bowl and set aside. Now sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon into the buttered serving dish along with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and all the raisins. Pour over most of the melted jam, reserving a small amount for glazing at the end.
  4. Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, vanilla seeds and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon and pour half of this mixture all over the bread. When it has soaked in slightly, arrange the bread in the serving dish so the pieces are overlapping. Continue layering the bread until all the pieces have been used, then pour over the rest of the egg mixture and scatter the surface with the remaining sugar and a light dusting of cinnamon.
  5. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35–40 minutes until golden.
  6. To serve, brush the pudding with the reserved melted jam and serve immediately.

 

Formulation courtesy of Gordon Ramsay/The Recipe by Josh Emett, Hardie Grant Books