Bread Pudding With Black Treacle Food

BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Tear 500g white or wholemeal bread into a large mixing bowl and add 500g mixed dried fruit, 85g mixed peel and 1 ½ tbsp mixed spice.
• Pour in 600ml milk, then stir or scrunch through your fingers to mix everything well and completely break up the bread.
• Add 2 beaten large eggs, 140g light muscovado sugar and zest of 1 lemon, if using. Stir well, then set aside for 15 mins to soak.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a 20cm non-stick square cake tin (not one with a loose base).
• Stir the melted butter into the pudding mixture, tip into the tin, then scatter with demerara.
• Bake for 1½ hrs until firm and golden, covering with foil if it starts to brown too much. Turn out of the tin and strip off the paper. Cut into squares and serve warm.

PLAIN AND PERFECT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch baking dish.
• Arrange the bread cubes tightly in the prepared baking dish. Beat together the butter, milk, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Add the granulated and brown sugars and mix until dissolved. Pour the mixture over the bread.
• Put the baking dish on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 55 to 70 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

EASY TREACLE SPONGE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Mix the syrup, lemon zest, juice and breadcrumbs and spread over the base of a 1.5 litre baking dish.
• Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one by one. Stir in the flour and milk and dollop over the syrup. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden and risen, and a skewer poked into the sponge comes out clean-ish. Eat with lots of custard, cream or ice cream and extra dribbles of syrup.

BLACK PUDDING

Steps:

• 1 Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease 2 glass loaf pans. (If you don't have glass loaf pans, line metal loaf pans with parchment to keep the blood sausage from reacting with the metal and creating an off-flavor.) Stir 1 teaspoon of salt into the blood.
• 2 Bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil and stir in the oats. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until just tender, not mushy.
• 3 Pour the blood through a fine sieve into a large bowl to remove any lumps. Stir in the fat, onion, milk, pepper, allspice and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Add the oatmeal and mix to combine. Divide the mixture between the loaf pans, cover with foil, and bake for 1 hour, until firm. Cool completely. Seal in plastic wrap and wither freeze for extended use or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• 4 To serve, cut a slice about 1/2-inch thick off the loaf. Fry in butter or oil until the edges are slightly crisped and browned.