Gordon Ramsay’s bread and butter pudding is crisp and golden on top with a silky custard underneath, made with pain au chocolat, whole eggs, double cream, cinnamon and an apricot jam glaze. Takes about an hour, though 20 minutes of that is just the bread soaking up custard.
This comes from the Ultimate Cookery Course, where Ramsay calls it “absolutely my favourite when I was growing up.” He swaps cheap white bread for pain au chocolat because “the nuggets of chocolate give it that extra dimension.” He’s so fond of the dish he praised one on Kitchen Nightmares, calling it the only good thing on the menu.
The technique that changes everything is a two-stage soak. Ramsay pours half the custard over the bread first, waits for it to absorb, then layers the slices into the dish and pours the rest on top. Every piece gets an even amount of liquid, so no dry patches hiding in the middle.
Gordon Ramsay Bread and Butter Pudding
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes40
minutes480
kcal55
minutesPain au chocolat layered with golden raisins and demerara sugar, soaked in a vanilla and cinnamon custard, then baked at 180°C until the top shatters and the centre wobbles. Finished with a warm apricot jam glaze. From the Ultimate Cookery Course.
Ingredients
50g (1¾ oz) softened butter, plus extra for greasing
2-3 tbsp apricot jam
6 pains au chocolat, cut into 1cm thick slices
1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp demerara sugar
35g (1¼ oz) golden raisins
500ml (2 cups) whole milk
120ml (½ cup) double cream (heavy cream)
6 large eggs
2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out
Directions
- Preheat and grease: Set the oven to 180°C (350°F / Gas 4). Lightly butter an 18 x 23cm baking dish.
- Melt the jam: Heat the apricot jam in a small pan over low heat for a couple of minutes until runny. Remove and set aside, keeping a small amount back for glazing.
- Butter the bread: Butter each pain au chocolat slice on one side and place them in a large bowl.
- Prepare the dish: Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cinnamon into the buttered dish along with 2 tablespoons of the demerara sugar and all the golden raisins. Pour over most of the melted jam.
- Make the custard and soak: Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, vanilla seeds and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour half over the bread in the bowl and let it soak in slightly.
- Layer: Arrange the soaked bread in the dish so the pieces overlap. Continue layering until all the bread is used, then pour the remaining custard over the top. Scatter the rest of the sugar and a light dusting of cinnamon across the surface.
- Bake: Place in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden on top.
- Glaze: Brush the pudding with the reserved melted jam and serve immediately.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay use pain au chocolat instead of white bread?
The chocolate inside the pastry melts into the custard as it bakes, so you get pockets of chocolate without adding anything extra. Pain au chocolat also has a richer, more laminated crumb than sandwich bread, which holds its shape during the soak instead of turning to mush.
Ramsay says he has tried baguette, panettone, brioche and croissants. Pain au chocolat won.
Do you need a water bath for this?
Not for this version. Ramsay bakes it straight at 180°C in the Ultimate Cookery Course.
His Sunday Lunch recipe does use a bain-marie, but that version has a much higher cream-to-egg ratio, which curdles more easily without the buffer. Six whole eggs in this UCC version set firmly enough on their own. If you want to understand how water baths work with custard, the technique is the same one Ramsay uses in his crème brûlée.
Can you add Baileys or Cointreau?
Ramsay uses Cointreau, not Baileys. His Sunday Lunch version adds 4 tablespoons directly into the custard before pouring it over the bread. The orange cuts through the richness.
Baileys adds more cream to a dish already loaded with it. If you want to try it, swap 3 tablespoons of milk for Baileys and reduce the sugar by a tablespoon, because Baileys is pre-sweetened.
How long does bread and butter pudding keep?
Best straight from the oven. The crisp top goes soft within a couple of hours, so the contrast that makes this dish special is gone by the next morning.
It keeps covered in the fridge for 2 days and reheats at 160°C (320°F) for 10 minutes, but the texture changes completely. If you need a make-ahead British pudding, Ramsay’s sticky toffee pudding holds up much better. You can compare all six pudding recipes to find the right one.
