Bread pudding

Bread pudding is a great dish to make ahead of time. It keeps fantastically in the fridge for up to a week. If you do make it ahead, simply cut into portions and warm them in the microwave.

Ingredients

1 loaf	Ciabatta bread, stale (Main)
70 g	Suet fat, shredded (beef, veal or pork all work fine)
1	Granny Smith apple, or any tart apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
20 g	Mixed peel
100 g	Raisins
40 g	Currants
1	Free-range egg
1 ½ tsp	Mixed spice
½ tsp	Allspice, ground
½ tsp	Cloves, ground
2 Tbsp	Dark rum
150 g	Soft brown sugar
20 g	Unsalted butter

Butterscotch sauce

280 g	Caster sugar
700 ml	Cream
150 g	Unsalted butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180C.
2. Remove crust from bread and discard. Cut remaining bread into 2cm pieces. Place bread in a bowl and cover with water for 30 minutes.
3. After soaking, remove bread from water, squeezing out as much liquid as possible with your hands, and reserve for later use.
4. Place suet, apple, mixed peel, raisins, currants, egg, spices and rum in a mixing machine bowl and beat with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes on medium speed.
5. Add the bread and mix for a further 5 minutes.
6. Spread pudding mixture out evenly in a 20cm x 15cm ovenproof baking dish with 4-5cm sides.
7. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top and dot with small pieces of the butter. Place in oven and cook for 1 hour.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving with warmed butterscotch sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.

Butterscotch sauce

1. Place sugar and 1/4 cup water into a small heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat.
2. Continue to boil until all the water has evaporated and sugar turns to a light golden caramel.
3. Carefully whisk in cream, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until combined.
4. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.