I know January is almost over, but the likelihood is, if you’re Italian or know an Italian, you have a panettone lying around just calling to be eaten! No doubt you’re also probably sick of eating panettone after the Christmas season so that poor panettone is just going to sit there collecting dust… but wait…what is this… a new way to jazz up your panettone?!

I wanted to combine the British and Italian in me and create a SUPER DESSERT and what better way than a bread & butter pudding but using the beloved panettone! This is one that can be enjoyed all year round and you get the added bonus of a vanilla custard recipe which you can use with any dessert you want! 

It’s rich and creamy and just simply delicious and you can be sure people will be fighting over the last piece! It’s also a great make-ahead dessert, just stop before sprinkling over the sugar on top, leave the dessert to cool completely, pop it in the fridge and before you put it in the oven the following day, sprinkle over the sugar. 

What is super important is that you slice the panettone in advance and leave it out so it gets a little stale – just like you would use stale bread in a traditional bread pudding you want to do the same here and then the custard will get soaked up and be super comforting!

Bread & Butter Panettone Pudding

Bread & Butter Panettone Pudding

Recipe by Francesca Bragoli
0 from 0 votes
Course: DessertCuisine: Christmas, British-Italian FusionDifficulty: Medium
Servings

10

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 
Total time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 kg Panettone

  • 100 g Spreadable Butter

  • 3 Tsp Mixed Ground Spice

  • 2-4 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

  • Vanilla Custard
  • 500 ml Whole Milk

  • 500 ml Double Cream

  • 1 Vanilla Pod or 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

  • 8 Egg Yolks

  • 5 Tbsp Golden Caster Sugar

Directions

  • The night before: Slice up the Panettone into standard slices and lay them out so they dry out. This makes it easier to butter! You can do this a few hours before but overnight is best!
  • Vanilla Custard
  • In a large saucepan, heat the milk and cream on a medium heat, carefully cut the vanilla pod length ways, scrap out the seeds from both sides and add to the saucepan. Add the whole pod for extra flavour, alternatively add the vanilla extract. Bring to a simmer for around 5 minutes.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until well-combined and pale in colour.
  • Once the milk has simmered, turn off the heat and add 2 ladles to the egg/sugar to shock them, and immediately whisk to combine – this will avoid curdling.
  • Once combined, pour back into the saucepan, put the heat back on low, and whisk in figures of 8 until it all starts to thicken – this should take around 5-10 minutes then remove from the heat.
  • Once this is ready you can put together the rest of the pudding!
  • Preheat the oven to 200℃/180℃ Fan. Grease a deep ovenproof dish with butter and ladle in some of the custard so it just coats the surface.
  • Generously butter both sides of the Panettone slices and form the first layer in the dish, you want it to be pretty tightly packed, so cut up slices so the slot in nicely.
  • Dust over some mixed ground spice and ladle custard so all the Panettone is submerged. Leave it to soak for a couple minutes before adding the next layer. Repeat until all the Panettone and custard is finished – usually you will get 2-3 layers depending on your dish size.
  • Lightly sprinkle the top with the Demerara sugar and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is nice and golden.
  • Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • The night before: Slice up the Panettone into standard slices and lay them out so they dry out. This makes it easier to butter! You can do this a few hours before but overnight is best!