Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

Softened butter, for greasing
3 punnets of blueberries
4 tbsp icing sugar + 3 tbsp extra for dusting
1 tsp lemon juice
600ml thickened cream
5 egg yolks
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp allspice
1 x panettone, cut into 1cm thick slices
4 tbsp cognac
1 pear, peeled, cored and diced

1 ½ tbsp Demerara sugar

Method

For the jam, place blueberries, 4 tablespoons of icing sugar and the lemon juice into a saucepan. Stir and leave macerate, off the heat, for 5 minutes. Place over a medium heat and cook stirring until their skins break and juices are released. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-20 minutes, skimming off any impurities that come to the surface. Transfer to a bowl and cool, or if making ahead of time, place hot jam into a sterilised (clean and dry) jar. Seal with a lid and then turn the jar over for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan until nearly at a boil. Remove from the heat.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and caster sugar with a pinch of allspice, then pour the hot cream over the eggs, whisking constantly.

Grease an ovenproof baking dish with butter. Arrange half the panettone in the greased dish, including the sides. Drizzle with the cognac, spread over jam and add the pears. Arrange the remaining panettone on top. Pour over the custard. You may need to do this in batches and wait for the custard to absorb into bread before adding the remaining liquid. Rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Sprinkle pudding with demerara sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and set.

Allow to cool slightly and serve with a dusting of icing sugar.