Bringing in the Sunshine with an Orange and Thyme Bread (Bagel) and Butter Pudding Recipe

I love a bargain, I think I could be the world’s richest woman and I would still find pleasure in a discount. Be it clothes, food or homewares; I just can’t resist the allure of that little red or yellow sticker. The words clearance and reduced seem to draw me in and I find my basket full to the brim with items that neither featured nor were contemplated in the formation of my shopping list.

This of course has its draw-backs; I can find myself stuck with a sauce destined for the back of the store cupboard or a freezer laden with two dozen sausages for Ed. But more often than not I come away with an ingredient I’m not used to using or I am compelled by the fast approaching use-by date to use items inventively.

Yesterday was one of those days; I walked away from Sainsbury’s with 10 cinnamon and raisin bagels for the measly sum of 68p. Of course the obvious answer when faced with a glut of breaded goods is to freeze them, but remember I have those 24 sausages vying for space! So I moved my thoughts onto the next obvious solution, bread and butter pudding.

Deliciously comforting and just the thing for a Sunday afternoon, I have brightened this recipe up to bring it more in line with the summer weather outside the kitchen door. That said, it probably won’t last and I am certain that this vanilla-spiked delight would be wonderfully warming on a drizzly day too.

 

Orange and Thyme Bagel and Butter Pudding

 

Bagels are rather thick and stodgy so I cut 4 Cinnamon and Raisin Bagels into three thin slices each and then cut each slice in half to make little semi circles. I then spread each one with lightly salted butter then a layer of Seville orange marmalade before stacking them round side up in an oven dish.

In a jug I sloshed in about 500ml of milk (whole is of course the best for this but I used semi-skimmed since it’s what we had in), a couple of eggs, two tablespoons of caster sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla paste (if using extract then use a whole teaspoon). Following a thorough beating this is simple poured over the bagels, do try and give them an equal soaking.

This is the point at which I turned the oven on to Gas Mark 6 before leaving the dish on the side to give the bagels a chance of soaking up all that wonderful eggy mix.

After 20 minutes of soaking your bagels will be nicely sodden and the oven wonderfully hot. All that’s left to do is sprinkle over 50g or so of mixed peel (more if you want), a the leaves from 4-5 sprigs of lemon thyme and a tablespoon of Demerara sugar.

Pop into the oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until the tops have gone golden brown, there is a slight wobble to the middle and you can see that the custard at the bottom has just set.

Serve in large spoonfuls, doused in cream for a wonderfully decadent but surprisingly fresh tasting Sunday night pudding.


Considering the basis for this recipe was some keen bargain hunting, I reckon this recipe qualfies for an entry into the Credit Crunch Munch Challenge hosted by the Deliceiux blog. This challenge originated on the Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All blogs before it found its new home.