Buttered Saffron Cake Pudding

This is an old Cornish version of the traditional Bread and Butter pudding but becomes particularly “ours” when substituting stale Saffron Cake for the bread. In olden days the cake went stale quite quickly so this pudding uses up the left overs. Our ancestors hated waste, so inventing  some of our best recipes!

This old recipe uses whole eggs for the custard, instead of yolks, as we usually do these days. Plus no cornflour. The whites will thicken the mix but it will be less yellow, so I added a few extra strands of saffron. I follow the recipe as per our ancestors! You can’t alter perfection!  Also we do not need any vanilla to flavour as we have the wonderful saffron.

You will need a medium ovenproof dish, well buttered. Cook in a “moderate oven” i.e. fan 160C

You can make your own Saffron Cake of course, I often do, but this time I went into Rowe’s and bought one!, took off the wrapping and cut into slices, not too thick [a small cake will cut into 9 good slices easily serving 6-8]. Leave out for 3 or 4 hours until starting to go stale.

Stale Saffron Cake, buttered

Brown Sugar - I used demerera

Orange zest

Granulated or demerera for sprinkling over the top

a few Currants

Butter for spreading

For the custard:

4 large eggs, whisked

1 pint warm whole milk [see note]

2 tablespoons caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Sprinkle the bottom generously of your buttered “fireproof” dish with brown sugar [I love that old fashioned expression!] then cover with a layer of saffron cake slices - butter side up. Add a few extra currants and a little zest to taste. Repeat this with the cake slices running in the opposite direction. Continue until the dish is full but do not place extra currants on the top layer. I ended up with three layers of cake. Lots of extra pics on my Blog.

Make the custard:

Warm the whole milk with the caster sugar and nutmeg until almost boiling. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the eggs. Sieve this mixture and then place back in the pan and cook until it starts to thicken, whisking all the time.

Pour the custard through the gaps in the the saffron cake but do not fully immerse the top layer. Cover the last layer with some demerera sugar and bake until the custard is well set - about 30 mins.

The original recipe tells you to serve it with plenty of clotted cream! Allow to cool for 15- 20 mins before serving.

Well I never, how scrumptious. Dare I say one of the most delicious and perfect desserts a Cornishman or woman can eat!!

Note: Double cream may be substituted for milk when making the custard or half and half. I used just whole milk.

2nd note: very few calories in this dessert!!