Chocolate bread and butter pudding

The kids loved helping to make this, it was really simple and delicious hot or cold. I think they were a bit disappointed that as there’s no batter mix like with a cake, there wasn’t a bowl to lick out at the end…

Serves 6-8

 

Ingredients

Half a stale white baguette

Butter

100g chocolate chips

50g raisins

2 tblsps cocoa powder

90g caster sugar

5 eggs

2 and a quarter pints of milk (soya is fine)

Equipment

Large, shallow lasagne dish

Roasting tin, big enough that the lasagne dish fits into it

Method

1) Slice the bread into 1 inch thick pieces and spread thickly with butter.

2)Grease the lasagne dish, then arrange the bread in overlapping rows in the dish.

3)Sprinkle with chocolate chips and raisins

4)Add the cocoa powder to a quarter of a pint of milk and stir into a smooth paste.

5)To make the custard, beat the eggs thoroughly, then whisk in the caster sugar. Stir in the cocoa mixture and the remaining 2 pints of milk.

6)Spoon the custard over the bread and allow to soak for 5 minutes.

7)Put the lasagne dish into the roasting tin, then add water so that the sides of the lasagne dish are halfway covered.

8)Put in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 50mins. Check regularly, do not allow to dry out. The pudding is ready when the custard is lightly set and the top is browned. To check insert a sharp knife into the centre. If the custard is still runny, bake for another 10 mins. Serve warm with custard, ice cream or cream.

Baked rainbow trout, fresh garlic bread and ratatouille

This sounds fancy, but it’s not- it’s quick and yummy. You could make it from scratch and it would be even tastier, but would take much longer. As  usual, here is the busy Mummy’s version, which shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes.

Serves 2 adults and 2 toddlers

Ingredients:

Sea salt

2 whole rainbow trout

Ready-made, fresh, wholemeal pizza dough or ‘just add water’ pizza base mix, prepared as per packet instructions

3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into thin slices

1 large sprig rosemary

200g grated cheese

Olive oil

1 tin ratatouille (400g ish)

Method:

1) Cut the heads off the rainbow trout and discard. Then place in a roasting tin and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30min, or until the fish is soft and flakey.

2)Lightly oil a large baking tray. Then sprinkle with plain flour. Press out the pizza dough until it is about 1.5 cm thick.

3)Dot the dough with the slices of garlic. Pick leaves off the sprig of rosemary, and dot in between the garlic, pressing gently into the dough. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Then drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the pizza and top with the grated cheese.

4)Bake in the oven with the fish for around 15min, or until the cheese is bubbling and the crust risen and lightly browned.

5)Heat up the tin of ratatouille as per the instructions on the tin.

6)De-bone and flake the fish. Serve with the ratatouille and wedges of the fresh garlic bread.