The rubbish ‘summer’ weather we’re having prompted a need for comfort food. I had a surfeit of bits & bobs of sourdough loaves in the bread bin, so bread pudding called to me.

Instead of just using the normal dried fruit, I wanted some sparkle in the pudding. The vibrant orange of apricots and red of cranberries were ideal for this. The fruit gives a lovely zing to the pudding to brighten up dull & wet days.

So if you fancy this, please read on for the recipe…

Sourdough bread pudding recipe with spices, apricots & cranberries

You’ll need a baking tin or dish. The one I used is 20cm x 30cm x 5cm and I lined it with baking parchment so it came out tidily.

Preheat your oven to 150°C.

Ingredients

I don’t think the precise quantities are important, so feel free to use what you have to hand and approximate.

330g old sourdough bread, crusts removed and cut into 1cm cubes
500ml milk
250g sultanas
125g dried apricots, cut into small pieces
125g dried cranberries
Finely grated zest and juice of a large orange
75g soft brown sugar
50g butter, cut into 5mm dice
1tbsp mixed spice
1tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
100ml creme fraiche

Method

In a bowl soak the bread in the milk for an hour or so. Then scrunch the cubes up with your hands so you have a bready mush.

Put the dried fruit into a heatproof bowl or saucepan. Add the orange juice and zest. Give it a quick 30 second blitz in the microwave or heat in a saucepan. This is to plump up the fruit.

Add the fruit and remaining juice to the bread with the soft brown sugar, butter cubes, mixed spice & vanilla essence. Give it all a good mix together.

Beat the eggs into the creme fraiche and then pour this into your bread & fruit. Mix well. You should have a runny, bejeweled mix.

Pour the mix into your prepared baking dish. Bake for 1 hour at 150°C and then turn the temperature up to 180°C for 15-20 minutes. The pudding is cooked when a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.

You can eat this hot out of the oven, or at room temperature. Great and even more comforting if eaten with lashings of custard.

Go on, treat yourself…