By all means, feel free to have meringue and berries if you want a light end to your Christmas feast. But you’re missing out. Christmas is the patron saint of overindulgence, and there’s nothing like the sweet torture of having to decide between a third helping of roast potatoes and saving space for some gooey-delicious confection. If I knew I was eating air for dessert, the potatoes wouldn’t stand a chance.
(Besides, you’ve already showed off your ability to do cute-and-fiddly with the santa-berries.)
Some people don’t like bread and butter pudding, but it’s surprising how many of them change their minds after tasting this. Panettone is a towering spiced Italian bread, studded with candied orange and raisins, and this pudding turns out with a crunchy top, gooey depths, a tart zing from the marmalade and sweet nibblets of spice.
Warning: this makes a Christmas-sized pudding. Depending on the size and shape of your dish, you may not need all the custard.
More: South African Christmas recipes
Ingredients
– One panettone
– 250 ml cream
– 550ml milk
– 4 large eggs
– ¾ cup of sugar
– ½ cup butter
– 10 Tb Seville orange marmalade
Method
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Slice the panettone evenly, each slice about 1 cm wide.
3. Butter the slices thickly, and spread generously with marmalade.
4. Layer them in a buttered dish, making sure that they’re slightly upright.
5. Whisk together the eggs and sugar, then add the cream and milk (and a splash of Cointreau or brandy if you like)
6. Pour the mixture over the panettone, and leave it for a few minutes to soak. The panettone shouldn’t be submerged in the custard – leave about a quarter of it sticking out to get crispy. This will depend on the size and depth of your dish, so don’t feel obliged to use all of the custard if it’s going to make things soupy.
7. Bake for about an hour, or until custard has set. You may need to cover it with foil for the last 15 minutes or so to stop the top from darkening past the crunchy-delicious stage.
8. Serve with cream and fresh berries.
