I'm not a huge fan of Bread Pudding myself but my husband has been asking me to make it for years so I thought I would surprise him.  At lunch time he rang to say it was amazing which is a huge compliment as he can be harsh when judging my culinary efforts (in fairness I burn things LOTS).

The recipe came from a family member and it's one of those 'throw it all in the bowl' jobs which I love so I thought I would share it with anyone else who might like to make one.

Ingredients:

500g White or Wholemeal Bread

500g Mixed Dried Fruit

1 tbsp Mixed Spice

600ml Whole Milk

2 Large Eggs, beaten

140g Light Brown Sugar

100g Butter, melted

2 tbsp Demerera Sugar (for the top if desired)

Recipe:

Tear the bread into a large mixing bowl and add the spice.  Pour in the milk and scrunch it up with your fingers, add eggs and sugar and mix well.  Leave it to sit for 15 mins to soak while the oven is pre heating to 180C/160C fan.

Butter and line a 20cm square tin (don't use loose bottom base) and then stir in the melted butter and make sure it's all coated and add fruit.  Tip it all into the tin, flatten and sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Bake for an hour and a half and put some foil on the top if it looks like it starting to burn.  

I checked on mine at this point and found it really hard to tell if it was done inside as its quite a squidgy mixture so I gave it an extra 15 mins (just to be sure).  Obviously once it cools everything gels together so its really easy to cut into squares.

Tips.....

There are lots of other things that can be added to jazz it up including glace cherries, mixed peel, orange or lemon rind or grated fresh apple.

Chop up half of it and wrap individually so they can be put in the freezer and taken out as and when.

Happy Baking!

Once upon a time, there was a young girl just days away from her 30^th birthday and close to her first mid life crisis.  Deciding that there had to be more to life, she left her job and her man and went back to the house of mum and dad with a car full of boxes and a ginger cat as her only dependant.

7 years on, the parents have custody of the cat and I am the proud owner of a husband, a toddler, a candy apple red kitchenaid and several grey hairs, and I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Life could not be more different now, one minute I was in hospital with the joys of labour and the next I’m battling in the world of toddlerdom!  In the last few weeks alone I’ve nearly been banned from the Co-Op as my boy makes a dramatic ‘grab and throw’ with a whole box of crème eggs and the day after that he decided his teddy would like to go swimming with the starfish in the Bourenmouth Oceanarium!  Some days I feel like my life is spent protecting him from impending danger as he climbs, fiddles, grabs and forever turns the bathroom taps on.  We’ve had countless items go fishing in the bath and loo including the TV remote, shoes and my beloved jewellery box!

So in my quest of trying to be a good mother I have taken him to a variety of clubs, toddler groups and attractions and found that there is tons to do in Dorset with children and I felt I’d like to share them with all the other families that live around us.

So from here on in, my Blog will hopefully include some funny stories, good ideas and fails (like the Weetabix and Banana Cake I made the other day which I could start selling as house bricks) and info on special offers that I see for attractions or family events.  I am also working on other pages which will include Dorset’s great beaches and pools and everything you need to know to plan a children’s party. 

So please come back now and again and Contact Us if you come across any events or clubs that you think are amazing. 

Thanks for reading.  

Dorsetmum.xxx     

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