Chocolate, Baileys, Brioche Bread and butter pudding

Now generally as a rule I'm not a pudding or dessert kinda guy, hence the tendency for my recipes to be mainly seafood!!

But my philosophy is, " if you're gonna have one, have a goodun" so this recipe I'm going to share with you guys is definitely a goodun! It's my version of the classic bread and butter pudding, but bares absolutely no resemblance to those, stodgy, no flavour, over cooked, ridiculous offerings you see on offer in places,

My recipe is a total dieters nightmare! But I reckon that all things in moderation, there are a few differences to the usual pudding, but I've only added them to enhance this fantastic pudding

Firstly I use Brioche, a great sweet bread, not dense which allows the custard to soak in, I use white chocolate, you don't have to, I like to add it as a over the top decadent extra! I'm never far away from alcohol when cooking and this recipe gets a good old glug of Baileys liquor!! Well why not? Rather than tipping cold milk and egg mixture over the bread, I make a warm custard which I find soaks into my brioche better, You'll also notice I don't use dried fruit, but by all means add a sprinkle between the layers

You have been warned! Once you've made and tasted this! You'll never make it any other way again

THIS RECIPE WILL SERVE 6-8 PEOPLE

SHOPPING LIST

1. 12-14 slices of brioche (buy it! I'm not going to tell anyone)

2. 100g of soft unsalted butter

3. 10 large egg yolks

4. 200g of caster sugar

5. 2 vanilla pods or a splash of vanilla essence

6. 400ml double cream

7. 400ml of full fat milk

8. 100g of white chocolate broken into pieces

9. 100ml Baileys liquor

10. A good sprinkling of caster sugar to finish

METHOD

1. Firstly grease a rectangular pudding basin or similar

2. Butter the brioche carefully, and cut into triangles

3. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar

4. Add the vanilla seeds or essence

5. Place the milk and cream into a pan and bring to a simmer

6. Pour over egg mixture and whisk in the chocolate

7. This is now the custard

8. Now arrange the brioche in the dish, overlapping the layers

9. Whisk in the baileys into the custard

10. Pour over the brioche

11. Allow to stand so the custard soaks in

12. Preheat your oven to 180c

13. Place your basin in a roasting tray and fill 3/4 with warm water

14. Cover the basin with foil

15. Cook for 25-30 minutes

16. The pudding should look like set custard and not to firm

17. To serve, sprinkle some caster sugar evenly over the top and glaze under a hot grill