The most Christmassy dessert in the world

A few weeks ago one of my most treasured friends came for a blinding 24 hour visit. She was on the first few days of a mammoth 9 week solo adventure through Central and South America. It took a hell of a lot of stuffing around and extra cost just for her to come to stay, and I appreciated every second she was here. I have written about it before, but as I get older I realise how much of a gift it is to spend quality time with your friends. Moving through the stages of ageing - finishing school, moving away with work, relationships, marriage (or finding a permanent partner), having children - all these exciting changes in life require attention, that in my 20's I spent enjoying the company of friends.



I could write a months worth of blog entries about what Jo's friendship means to me. We don't see each other regularly but I think of her often. She is thoughtful, kind and blindingly smart, but most importantly she is always there with a beaming smile and a warm pair of arms to greet me with. It's comforting for me to know that there is someone who understands me so fully, even if she's not always within arms reach.


Coincidentally, the 24 hours of Jo's visit bought with it the first nasty rains of the season. We attempted a few touristy activities, but after staring at a Golden Gate Bridge shaped cloud in the rain, we decided to retreat to a cafe. I recalled searching a local San Francisco review site for cafe recommendations a while ago. These options were checked with a foodie couple we know here & Tartine Bakery was given two thumbs up.

Tartine is a tiny place in the Mission District. It sits on a street corner with large walls of windows (great for street voyeurism) and is full of rustic wooden furniture. From most of the seats you have a view into one of the large baking rooms. The staff are quirky and cool with more than one handlebar moustache in view at all times.

And the food....the food was phenomenal. It took about 20 minutes (most of that time spent drooling from the corners of our mouths) of standing in front of the large display cases packed with perfect little European delights to decide what to eat. Luckily we were hungry when we arrived, but I'm sure we would have crammed just as much in if we weren't.

We decided on cranberry bread and butter pudding (made with delectable eggy brioche), gingerbread cookies, hibiscus tea and a cafe au lait. The photo doesn't do the food any justice. The bread pudding was a glorious buttery yellow with accents of deep red - it was the ultimate Christmas dessert. And it was dense. I think it had been weighted before cooking to make it so. One small bowl was more than enough between us.

That experience threw me into a festive mood and a few days later attempted my own version of the pudding. The traditional sultana and cinnamon one has been a staple dessert for our family for as long as I can remember. I think it came out of the original Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook.

Below is a picture, and the recipe, of my attempt to make a Christmassy version of bread and butter pudding.




Red Berry Bread Pudding

Ingredients
400g (1 pound) challah, cut into 1cm (1/3r inch) slices (you could substitute brioche or panettone)
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter + a little more to grease the baking dish
3 cups (24 fl oz) milk, (you can sub 1 of the cups for a cup of cream, if you like)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 tsp of vanilla essence)
3/4 cup (6 oz) granulated sugar
3 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks
Grated zest of 1 orange or lemon
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) red berries. I used cranberries and raspberries, Tartine used red currants and cranberries.

Method
- Dry out the bread - this can be done by leaving the slices out on a tray for a day, or putting them on a baking sheet in an oven (160C or 320F for 45 mins)
- Grease a ceramic baking dish. Mine is an 30 x 20 x 8cm (11 1/2 x 8 x 3inch) oval, heavy ceramic jobbie.
- Layer the bread and the red berries until the bread is even with the top of the baking dish. I like to squash up some of the berries and fill the gaps between the bread. Leave this to the side.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F)
- In a medium sized saucepan put the milk (and cream, if that's your chosen recipe), the eggs and extra yolks, the sugar and the vanilla pod.
- Whisk over a low heat until combined.
- Add the butter and let it melt.
- Once it has melted, add the zest of your chosen citrus.
- Take off the heat and ladle as such of the custard over the bread as possible. Take a breather when the container looks full. In a few minutes the bread will have soaked up more custard and you can ladle more in.
- Cover the dish with foil, place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 50 mins
- Take off foil and leave in the oven for a further 15 mins
- Try and take the grin off your face long enough to have a few delicious mouthfuls