This is one of the best Easter ideas I have ever seen. I work in a bakery and since we ‘bake everything fresh daily’ (& hence have to throw out quite a bit of bread) I end up with a freezer full of hot cross buns as I can’t bear to throw out perfectly good food. This is a great way for me to use them up, but it is also a good Easter treat for dessert.
I thought now was a good time to post it so you can try it over the upcoming Easter period. Enjoy, and let me know how it went!
Chocolate Hot Cross Bun Bread & Butter Pudding
6 chocolate hot cross buns
30g unsalted butter, softened
175g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds removed
600ml thin cream
600ml thickened cream
zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
170g caster sugar
1/4C brandy (optional)
icing sugar, to dust
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and grease a 2 litre (8C) capacity baking dish.
2. Split the hot cross buns in half and butter. Lay bases in the baking dish, sprinkle with chopped chocolate and replace tops.
3. Place vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan with the creams and zest and bring to a gentle simmer over low heat. Remove from heat.
4. Beat eggs, sugar and brandy until just combined and pour into warm cream mixture, stirring continuously. Strain the custard evenly over the buns and set aside for 30 minutes to soak.
5. Place pudding dish in a large roasting pan and pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until custard is set.
6. Dust with icing sugar and serve with extra cream.
Serves 6-8
Adapted from: delicious. April 2006, FPC Magazines, Australia
Notes:
- You can make the pudding up to the end of step 4 and refrigerate until needed, just bring it back to room temperature before putting it in the oven.
- Something that I want to try is doing this with fruit hot cross buns and white chocolate, just for a bit of a twist!
- If you want to cut down on the effort factor a little (or just make it quicker) you could use bought custard, but homemade always tastes better.
