Exams ... !!

[vinteuil]

I was persuaded to eat B&B pudding at school in England; usually pale brown and in a solid rectangular lump it reinforced my prejudice against the desserts produced in that bleak cold and wet island.

... that sounds to me like 'Bread Pudding'. 'Bread and Butter Pudding' is something totally different - and amazingly edible...

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13355/bread-pudding

.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/breadandbutterpuddin_85936

[Alain Maréchal]

I assumed they were variants of the same, or one was indifferently made. Both appear similar, based on bread (why?) and indigestible, and would be improved if laced with Cointreau or other alcohol (almost everything is). I wish I could have done so at school.

"Day-old bread works best in this recipe." Am I the only one here appalled by that line?

[Dave2002]

Sorry, I like bread pudding, and also bread and butter pudding, but they are very different. The bread and butter pudding is even better made with brioche, or with panettone.

[Alain Maréchal]

I now assume that I have never eaten Bread and Butter pudding, and my school memory is of Bread Pudding. Neither tempts me.

[french frank]

I assumed they were variants of the same, or one was indifferently made.

No, quite different beasts. I'm not sure how bread pudding is made but it looks like soggy bread mashed up with something or other (spices?)

With bread and butter pudding, the egg mixture is light and fluffy (like a soufflé) and the crispy buttered bread is the covering on the top. There may be separate layers of bread further down, but it isn't mashed up with the egg mixture. Stodgy it ain't and with cream, dried fruit and spices it is - a délice de chef. And for your snooty French information Escoffier lui-même does not disdain it: he has a recipe in Ma Cuisine in which he uses a crème renversée mixture.

[Alain Maréchal]

I'm a snooty Belgian, ff, even if I followed the usual route south! (I believe Dr Johnson noticed a parallel tendency amongst Scotsmen). I have an aversion to any dish made with bread - I assume caused by my teenage exposure to the delights of Cuisine Anglaise.

Disclosure; I spent two, later, periods working in England. By the time of my second sojourn pubs had worked out how to serve edible food, so it was not always a disaster. I avoided the puddings however.

[Nick Armstrong]

No quite the only one. Try a little [Cointreau] on home-made bread and butter pudding...with cream of course.

Ah yes - I can see that would work... Will you have spread orange marmalade on your bread before cooking?

'Bread and Butter Pudding' is something totally different - and amazingly edible...

Oh yes; but even better - and the best I've ever had - is Gary Rhodes' variant which makes sure the cream element is properly vanilla-y, and finishes it à la crème brûlée

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/3322602/My-favourite-recipe-Gary-Rhodes.html

Are you forgetting its (admittedly more expensive) place in a classic margarita when one has run out of Triple Sec?

Yes. Or rather no. I had no idea. I've always given 'margaritas' a wide berth.

[Keraulophone]

...with cream of course

Clotted cream (preferably from Rodda's of Redruth) goes especially well with B & B pud.

[vinteuil]

I I have an aversion to any dish made with bread ...
.

... that is sad : you are missing out on some good things. Bread and Butter Pudding (but not, I agree, Bread Pudding... ) can be delectable, and so can a well-constructed Summer Pudding -

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4516/summer-pudding

[Alain Maréchal]

I agree it looks enticing, especially as there is no crust. English style sandwich bread is available, but why not just pile up some fruits and add a spoon of fromage blanc or cream? Why use bread? I don't think I am "missing out" by the way: I use bread to mop up my Boeuf a la Bourguignonne, I just don't understand why it is needed in cooked dishes.

[jean]

This might make you think again...

[french frank]

I just don't understand why it is needed in cooked dishes.

There are a lot of foods like potatoes, pasta, rice, dumplings, noodles, polenta &c which are used to blend tastes (and add 'bulk' to a dish) and take away a certain 'raw' richness . When I was a child and we had tinned fruit salad for tea, we had to eat bread and butter with it. I suppose that was to fill us up. However, if you don't like any of these foods, you don't have to eat them. If you have a spoon, you don't even need bread to mop up your bœuf (à la) Bourguignonne

[jean]

Licking the plate is best.

[Alain Maréchal]

If you have a spoon, you don't even need bread to mop up your bœuf (à la) Bourguignonne

I add extra liquid (usually Cote Roannaise) for the sole purpose of mopping it up with a lovely fresh ficelle. I like good bread - I just can't understand the need for cooked bread. Why not make a batter*? (and then of course, turn it into gaufres and spread whipped butter over them, with, if you need a little something extra, a pouring of advocaat. Cointreau optional.)

* I think I may have just recommended Clafoutis - not a crust in sight

[Beef Oven!]

I think that's bread pudding aka stodge when I was at skool. Not bread and butter.

My experience of school bread and butter pudding in schools in the London Borough of Hackney in the 1960s and 1970s* was that it was rather good. My mum's was very good too (in the last few years my sister has influenced her to use panattone), and I would say modestly that the pudding made by my own fair hand is some of the best known to mankind. I keep it simple, with the occasional use of marmalade being the most exotic I get.

I haven't read all the posts, but has anyone acknowledged how incredibly easy it is to make?



*other people may have gone to school a hell of a long time before I did, and in a weird part of the country.