Hot cross bun butter and banana pudding. Photo / Tamara West
Hot cross bun butter and banana pudding. Photo / Tamara West
If your hot cross buns are getting a little tired, resurrect them with this deliciously comforting custardy bread pudding. The added flavours are up to you, here we’ve used bananas and dates but you could do a marmalade layer with chocolate dotted on top (excess Easter eggs, we’re looking atyou) or maybe some stewed apple with toasty walnuts ...
Preheat oven to 180C. Whip approximately 200g softened butter with the zest of an orange and a big glug of rum, whisky, or orange liqueur, if desired, until smooth.
Cut hot cross buns into thick slices and butter generously. Layer into a baking dish, adding thick slices of banana between each slice.
Heat 2 cups full-fat milk, 1 cup cream and ½ vanilla pod until almost boiling.
Whisk together 75g caster sugar and 4 eggs, then whisk into the hot milk.
Strain this custard over the buns in stages, allowing it to soak in each time.
Top with a few finely chopped dates and some grated orange zest, place dish in a large roasting dish half full of hot water and bake until custard is just set, approximately 30-35 minutes.
