Bread and butter pudding facts for kids
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| Alternative names | Whitepot |
|---|---|
| Type | Pudding |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Main ingredients | Buttered bread, raisins, egg, milk or cream, nutmeg |
Bread and butter pudding is a delicious dessert from Britain. It's a type of bread pudding that's been enjoyed for a very long time.
To make it, thin slices of buttered bread are placed in a baking dish. People often sprinkle raisins between the layers of bread. Then, a sweet mixture called egg custard is poured over everything. This custard is usually flavored with spices like nutmeg or vanilla. Finally, the pudding is baked in the oven until it's golden brown and bubbly.
What Makes Bread and Butter Pudding Special?
This pudding is super versatile! After it's baked, you can serve it with extra custard or cream.
People love to add different sweet things to the bread layers. Sometimes, they spread jam (like raspberry or strawberry), marmalade, or other sweet spreads on the buttered bread.
Modern versions can be even more creative. Some recipes suggest adding fresh grapes between the bread layers. Others might melt apples into the egg and milk mixture. You can even use different kinds of bread, like soft brioche, instead of regular bread. Adding a bit of lemon or orange peel can give it a lovely fresh taste. Traditionally, people often used bread that was a day or two old, which helped it soak up the custard better.
A Look Back: History of the Pudding
The very first versions of bread and butter pudding were called whitepot. These early puddings sometimes used bone marrow instead of butter, or even rice instead of bread. This is how rice pudding also became popular in Britain!
One of the first times a recipe for "bread and butter pudding" was written down was in a cookbook from 1728. It was called The Compleat Housewife and was written by Eliza Smith. Her recipe was quite detailed! It told people to take a loaf of bread and a pound of fresh butter. They had to spread the butter on very thin slices of bread. Then, they would add raisins and currants (which are like small raisins).
The recipe also said to put a pastry crust at the bottom of the dish. Then, you would layer the bread and butter, currants, raisins, and small bits of butter until the dish was full. For the custard, she suggested boiling cream and thickening it with ten egg yolks, grated nutmeg, a little salt, sugar, and orange flower-water. This mixture was poured over the bread just before baking.
Later, in 1845, another famous cookbook author, Eliza Acton, shared her own recipe. She suggested flavoring the milk for the custard with lemon-rind, bitter almonds, or cinnamon. She also added cream and sugar, thickened with beaten eggs. Her recipe even included a glass of brandy in the mixture!
In the United States, this dessert might sometimes be called "Cold Bread Pudding."
Interestingly, there's a popular dessert in Egypt called Om Ali. It's similar because it uses bread or pastry, and it often includes pistachio nuts, but it doesn't use eggs like bread and butter pudding does.
See also
In Spanish: Budín de pan y mantequilla para niños
