Austerity Bread Pudding

Alison Clayton's Note:

This is a slightly different bread pudding recipe. My mother thinks that it appeared sometime post-war when you were encouraged to use up old stale bread, I don't know about that but it's different from the recipes which call for buttered sliced bread with milk and eggs, which I think of as 'bread and butter pudding'. It is packed full of things which are fattening and bad for you so don't eat it every day!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 pudding

• 6 slices bread (approx. Stale, white, brown or mix)
• 2 ounces sugar
• 2 ounces suet (or other fat)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
• 8 ounces dried sultanas or 8 ounces fruit

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees C.
2. put slices of bread into a bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover them.
3. Leave to soak for 15 minutes.
4. Drain bread and squeeze out excess water.
5. mush it all up with a wooden spoon or in a food processor.
6. Add other ingredients and mix well.
7. Grease a shallow baking tin and pour in mixture.
8. Bake for approximately 1 hour until the top is browned and a knife comes out clean (you may sprinkle sugar on the top 3/4 of the way through if you like).
9. Serve hot with English Custard or cool and serve in slices.