Amelia Grace Bread pudding and bread and butter pudding often get confused, but they’re genuinely quite different things, and this recipe is very much the former — a dense, spiced, cake-like slab, packed with dried fruit, that’s sliced and eaten more like a traybake than spooned from a dish.
This is proper old-fashioned baking, the sort of thing that used to be a regular way to use up stale bread rather than throwing it away, and it’s every bit as good today.
It’s dense, warmly spiced, and keeps remarkably well, which makes it a wonderful thing to have in the tin for the week ahead.
Why This Pudding Is Baked Rather Than Set with Custard
Unlike bread and butter pudding, which layers slices of bread under a custard that sets around them, this bread pudding takes an entirely different approach.
Here, the bread is soaked and broken down into the milk first, then mixed together with the fruit, spices, sugar and egg into a single, dense batter before baking, rather than being layered separately.
This gives you a completely different final texture — dense and cake-like all the way through, rather than the soft, custardy layers of a bread and butter pudding, and it’s baked in a traybake or loaf tin, then cut into squares or slices, rather than served straight from a baking dish.
Ingredients for Delia Smith Bread Pudding
- 400g stale white or brown bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces
- 500ml milk
- 300g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants)
- 100g soft dark brown sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
How to Make Delia Smith Bread Pudding — Step by Step
Step 1 — Soak the Bread
Put the torn bread into a large bowl and pour over the milk. Leave to soak for 20–30 minutes, until the bread has completely broken down and absorbed the milk.
Step 2 — Mash the Bread
Mash the soaked bread thoroughly with a fork or your hands, breaking up any remaining lumps until you have a smooth, thick mixture.
Step 3 — Preheat and Prepare
Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan / Gas 3). Grease and line a 23cm square baking tin.
Step 4 — Add the Remaining Ingredients
Stir the dried fruit, brown sugar, melted butter, beaten eggs, mixed spice and cinnamon into the mashed bread mixture until well combined.
Step 5 — Add the Baking Powder
Stir in the baking powder right at the end, mixing well.
Step 6 — Pour into the Tin
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon.
Step 7 — Sprinkle with Sugar
Sprinkle the top generously with demerara sugar for a lovely crunchy finish.
Step 8 — Bake
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Step 9 — Cool Before Slicing
Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into squares.
My Top Tips for the Best Delia Smith Bread Pudding
Use properly stale bread. Fresh bread contains too much of its own moisture already, which can make the finished pudding too wet and dense in an unpleasant way rather than properly rich.
Mash the bread thoroughly. Any large lumps left unmashed will bake into slightly odd, chewy patches, so take the time to break everything down smoothly.
Don’t skip the sugar sprinkle on top. It gives a lovely, slightly crunchy contrast against the dense, soft interior once baked.
Let it cool completely before slicing. This pudding needs to firm up properly as it cools to hold together neatly when cut, so resist slicing in while warm.
Store it in an airtight tin rather than the fridge. Bread pudding tends to dry out in the fridge, so a cool cupboard in an airtight container actually keeps it moister for longer.
Serving Suggestions
Serve in slices as it is, with a cup of tea, or warmed slightly with a little butter spread over the top. It’s also lovely with a drizzle of golden syrup or a spoonful of custard if you’d like something a bit more indulgent.
How to Store Delia Smith Bread Pudding
In the fridge: Not necessary, and can actually dry the pudding out — room temperature storage is better for this one.
At room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, actually improving in flavour after a day or two as the spices settle.
In the freezer: Freeze whole or in slices, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
Delia Smith Bread Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Soak the torn bread in milk for 20–30 minutes.
- Mash the soaked bread thoroughly.
- Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan / Gas 3). Grease and line a 23cm tin.
- Stir in dried fruit, sugar, melted butter, eggs and spices.
- Stir in the baking powder.
- Pour into the tin and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle generously with demerara sugar.
- Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool completely before slicing into squares.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions About Delia Smith Bread Pudding
What’s the difference between this and bread and butter pudding?
Bread and butter pudding layers slices of buttered bread under a custard that sets around them, giving soft, custardy layers. This bread pudding mashes the soaked bread into a single dense batter that bakes into a cake-like texture, sliced rather than spooned.
Can I use any type of bread for this?
Yes, white, brown, or even a mix works well, as long as it’s properly stale. Avoid very seeded or heavily flavoured breads, as their flavour can overpower the spices.
Why is my bread pudding too wet in the middle?
This usually means the bread wasn’t stale enough to begin with, or it wasn’t baked for long enough. Check with a skewer, and give it extra time if needed, as this pudding takes a good hour or more to bake through properly.
Can I add other dried fruits or spices?
Absolutely — chopped dried apricots, glacé cherries, or a little grated orange zest all work beautifully as additions or substitutions for some of the mixed dried fruit.
