Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding

"Wake up and smell the spices! This week on the Breakfast Show, Ron is throwing it back to a proper old-fashioned favourite. Forget fancy, delicate pastries—this is the legendary, dense British bread pudding that’s guaranteed to keep you going all morning. Perfect with a strong cuppa while you listen to the show!"

• Prep time: 35 mins
• Bake time: 1 hour 15 mins
• Servings: 9 massive, radio-fuelled slices

🛒 What You’ll Need

• Bread: 1 x 600g stale loaf (crusts removed, leaving you with 400g of bread cubes)
• Liquid: 380ml milk (Ron’s tip: way better than the wartime water versions!)
• The Bind: 1 large free-range egg
• The Sweet stuff: 60g soft dark brown sugar + extra caster sugar for dusting
• The Fruit: 350g dried mixed fruit
• The Spice Mix: 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, and 2 tbsp mixed spice (do not use allspice!)
• The Richness: 120g unsalted butter, melted

🥣 How to Make It

1. The Big Soak: Chop your crustless, stale bread into small cubes and chuck them into a massive mixing bowl. Pour the milk over the top, give it a quick stir, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Crucial step: do not skip this, or your pudding will be dry!
2. Get Stuck In: After 30 minutes, wash your hands and use your fingers to squish the milk-soaked bread until all the large lumps disappear.
3. Mix the Good Stuff: Pour in your melted butter, egg, dark brown sugar, dried fruit, and all those glorious spices. Grab a wooden spoon and mix it all together until beautifully combined. (Leave the electric hand mixer in the cupboard for this one!)
4. Prep the Tin: Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan / Gas 4). Line a 9-inch (22cm) square baking tin with greaseproof baking paper. Pour your thick mixture in and smooth it out.
5. The Bake: Pop it into the oven for 1 to 1¼ hours. Keep an ear out and an eye on the oven: check it around the 50-minute mark. If it's browning too fast, cover the top with a bit of tin foil.
6. The Radio Finish: A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean when it's done. Let it cool slightly in the tin, transfer to a wire rack, and hit it with a generous sprinkle of caster sugar.

🎧 Ron’s Top Presenter Tips:

• Bread Choice: Use a proper 2-to-3-day-old crusty loaf like a bloomer. Avoid standard pre-sliced sandwich bread.
• Hot or Cold? It's delicious either way, but Ron swears by eating a slice while it's still warm alongside a steaming hot mug of tea.