Oh my goodness! I'm so impressed Laura and Eva. Thanks for attempting the pud and for sharing the results with me. It’s fab that you enjoyed a little bit of South Africa in your homes. I can’t wait to tell my darling MIL that her recipe is travelling around the world.

I forgot to report on my attempt. I made it to bring to a party back in December, before Christmas. It was very good and received lots of compliments. Personally, I'm not a huge bread pudding fan--it's a textural thing for me. But it sure smelled wonderful while it was baking. The one thing I think I made a mistake about was the amount of bread was much greater than the amount of egg mixture. When I poured the mixture over the bread, it didn't cover it enough. So I threw together more egg mixture, but not the exact recipe. I also had so much that I made 2 casseroles.

Even though I didn't enjoy an entire serving, I did take a taste of my husband's to make sure it was servable. Everyone at the party who tried it enjoyed it.

I finally got a chance to make the pudding this evening for some friends we had over to dinner. It was SO good! It's definitely one of my favorite desserts now (it even rivals cheesecake, which I will eat anytime, anyplace). Anyway, I'm not sure how it was meant to turn out. Is it meant to be solid, or kind of disintegrate into a creamy mass? Because that's what it did for me:

http://i66.photobucket.com/alb.....301464.jpg

The bread pieces kind of kept their shape, but when you would spoon it out, it fell apart and did have the texture of a very creamy, rich, thick American pudding. Should I have not added so much half and half mixture? I know traditional bread pudding is usually sliceable into chunks, and this definitely was not.

Nevertheless, it was big hit, and obviously I absolutely loved it. Thank you!

Looks fab Ana!!! I’m glad it worked out. Did Brendan like the pud too?

Yes, Angie, he did like it. He even commented that the apricot jam added a nice tartness that it needed. He said, "Maybe we could try it with marmalade," but then I said you had tried that and it didn't work out, hee hee. I think he was expecting the pudding to be more solid though, not as creamy/soupy. That's why I asked if it was meant to be that way.

Mine is more solid than that Ana, but not a solid lump like American bread pudding. Glad hubby enjoyed it too

Okay, that makes sense. I will add a little less cream next time, and that will probably fix the issue. Thanks Angie!

After seeing Angie's blog post google led me here so I thought I would bump it up

Sounds absolutely yummy. Jules -- Thanks for finding and reposting this (older) thread. I missed it the first time round. And Angie -- thanks for freely sharing your delicious recipe with all of us.

I have made a very similar pudding - I also like to "wing" it when cooking so this suits me too - and have even made a savoury version with cheese and tomato relish/chutney, bacon etc..

It is delicious in winter and the leftovers are great!

Your instructions, and the ingredients themselves , are hilarious. ( I am a little pedantic when it comes to following recipes) That said, I would love to give this one a try for Christmas morning . I enjoy trying new recipes that my friends love and recommend, and this sounds like a sentimental favourite. Retro indeed

The way people ate even 10-15 years ago is mind-blowing, and you wonder how anyone maintained any degree of health. Our equally horrifying version of this was with raisin bread. For extra fun, we drenched it in maple syrup. Probably a day's calories in one serving .

Nice! I wanted to know and here is the answer waiting for me!

How fun to see this post!
I love Anne's comment about pudding referring to desserts of all types. That's the tradition in our house, too, and it has become a good-natured joke amongst the extended family.

I haven't really liked bread and butter pudding in the past, but this recipe sounds delicious. If I give it a try, what's half-and-half?? Low fat milk?

Lisap - surely everything is better with maple syrup!

Lisa - it is interesting how food habits change. My parents grew up eating meat and three vege every day (vege always boiled of course), desserts every night and the pantry was filled with loads of home baking. All their family members were relatively slim and in good shape (no six pack muscles of course but fit from walking, and working, and going to local dance nights).

They did not drink much alcohol, did a lot more walking/hard chores, and had no fast foods...In comparison I eat much more quinoa (which I dislike), avoid white sugar where I can, go to the gym and wear active wear... (but drink wine and sit at my computer!)

It is fascinating I find!!

Nice to "see" you!

This sounds so delicious! I am another marmalade lover but will take your advice if I decide to make this. I'm going to have to ask my mom if she still has her chocolate bread pudding recipe. I just did a google search and found a bunch of recipes by cooking queens like Martha Stewart and Paula Dean but they seemed much more complex than what I remember as a very simple but delicious dish.

LisaP you are so right about how eating patterns have changed. I used to make english plum pudding for christmas, and one of the main ingredients in it is SUET Yup, the stuff you feed to birds. And on top of it we'd put hard sauce which is butter with a lot of sugar smashed into it. I bet a small serving of this is actually more healthy once in a while than a steady diet of prepared, packaged, preserved "lowfat" stuff....

You "follow" recipes just like I do. It makes some people in my life crazy. This looks delicious and if I could eat bread I'd be making it tonight!

Angie thanks for this good recipe for bread and butter pudding, I like to cook and especially to make cake so this will be very soon on my table.

YAY! I was about to link to this SEVEN YEAR OLD THREAD for everyone on a separate thread, and you did it for me, Jules. Thank you.

Helen, "Half & Half" is half milk and half cream.

Lisap, I prefer golden syrup!

Sally, at the Cox Castle - and that goes for most of my family for that matter - we more or less eat like how your parents grew up. It works for us - although we don't have dance nights. We have shopping days!

Ha! I didn't notice this thread was an oldie Good find, Jules. Angie, you drive me crazy - lol. Golden syrup ? Honestly. That stuff should be illegal. And Sally - nice to "see" you too xo.

If only there was a food picture so this won't look out of place when I pin your avatar to my comfort food recipe Pinterest board LOL. Looking forward to trying this recipe, it looks like something I could do even though the instructions aren't super specific. Thank you!

Ooh--my husband is mad for any kind of bread pudding, so I will definitely try this with some homemade jam. I'll bet it would be a yummy brunch dish. Thanks for reviving the thread, Jules!

This sounds amazing! I'll have to give it a try.