This is a rehash of a classic, adding some of our favourite flavours
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 250ml/8floz milk
- 250ml/8floz cream
- ½ vanilla pod, split
- 80g/3oz sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 100g/4oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 6 slices of white bread, crusts removed, cut into 2 cm (¾ in) cubes
- 150g/5oz raspberry jam
- 4 egg whites
- 120g/4½ oz icing sugar
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
Raspberry Sauce
- 150g/5oz sugar
- 225g/8oz(1/2 lb) frozen raspberries
- squeeze of lemon juice
Method
Preheat the oven to 150C/135C fan-oven/Gas mark 2
Half fill a roasting tin with boiling water.
Place the milk, cream and vanilla pod in a small pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat.
Whisk together the sugar and the yolks until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy. Strain the milk mixture on to the yolks, scraping all the seeds off the vanilla pod. Whisk continuously.
Stir in the melted chocolate, then toss in the cubes of bread and leave them to absorb for about 10 minutes.
Pour the custard into 23-25cm (9-10 in) ceramic baking dish, or 6-8 individual ramekins, until about two-thirds full. Make sure the water doesn’t come more than halfway up the outside of the moulds. Cover the tin with two layers of cling film and place in the centre of the oven. The custard should be cooed until slightly wobbly in the centre. The time this takes depends on the mould 30-45 minutes for a large dish, 20 – 30 minutes for individual ones.
Gently heat the jam with 2 tbsp water. When the custard has cooled slightly, spread a layer of jam over the top. It should be about 0.5cm –1cm (¼ – ½ in) deep.
Place the egg whites and icing sugar in a bowl, and whisk over a bowl of hot water until warmed right through. With a mixer, whisk on high for 5-8 minutes, until glossy.
Pile the meringue mixtures on top of the jam layered custard. Sprinkle with caster sugar and cook at 190C/170C fan-oven/Gas mark 5 for 10 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly.
To make the sauce, boil the sugar with 150ml (¼pt) water. When the sugar has dissolved, liquidise with the raspberries, strain through a fine sieve and add the lemon juice. Place a spoon of pudding on each plate and serve surrounded with the sauce.
