Brioche Bread and Butter Loaf

Instead of a heavy Christmas pudding, try this lighter B&B pudding baked in a loaf tin or pudding basin. Use any sweet or fancy bread you like, as long as it isn’t too heavy. Brioche is ideal but croissants, sliced tea loaves, panettone etc would be fine. Serve with sliced fresh plums pan-roasted for a few minutes with a little butter, sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.

Serves 4

1 small brioche or panettone loaf, about 250g, or 4 large croissants

About 50g unsalted butter, softened, optional

50g sultanas or dried cranberries or dried cherries

2 large free-range egg yolks

1 large free-range egg

25g caster sugar

200ml double cream

200ml milk

2-3 tbsp liqueur, eg Drambuie, Cointreau, Baileys, Curaçao

Icing sugar, to dust

1.