Mark Hix recipe: Bread and butter pudding

Serves 4-6

Bread and butter pudding is a really nice way to use up any bread that has gone past its sell-by date (Jason Lowe)

This dessert is a mere crumb compared to how many loaves are actually thrown away every single day, but it's definitely a really nice way to use up any bread that has gone past its sell-by date, as it were.

4 slices of bread, crusts removed and quartered
A good knob of butter, melted
3 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
600ml single cream
3-4tbsp melted marmalade to glaze

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Lightly butter an ovenproof dish measuring about 25 x 20 cm and roughly 5-6cm deep. Arrange the slices of bread in the dish, overlapping and covering the whole thing.

Bring the cream to the boil. Mix the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together then pour over the cream and whisk until well mixed, then carefully pour over the bread, rearranging them if necessary.

For the cooking, you'll need to have a deep tray such as a roasting pan larger than the pudding dish. Stand the pudding dish in the tray and pour boiling water into the pan, three-quarters of the way up the dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the custard has just set.

Remove from the tray and leave to cool for a short while. Finally, brush the marmalade over it and serve.