by Dissie Dothe

Created on: May 02, 2010

Bread pudding ages gracefully with time. Recipes for this traditional dish have traveled the world over. England is the home to this beloved delicacy. Moreover, it famed such classics as:

Hey! Rub-a-dub, ho! Rub-a-dub, three maids in a tub,
And who do you think were there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
And all of them gone to the fair

The English filled Christmas boxes with sweets as an anonymous charity and would add one of these verses. Soon a tradition of giving bake goods and Christmas cards emerged.

Make a royal British pudding by following this basic recipe. It serves six and you should make two when taking it along to a family reunion.

Royal British Pudding

~Victorian Cake~

1 angle food cake, baked & cooled

(or substitute a sponge cake)

~Macaroons~

1 dozen, baked and cooled

(or substitute with bakery bought)

3 / 4 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
1 / 4 cup sherry

(substitute sherry with 1 tsp sherry extract, or 1 / 4 cup apple cider, or liquid from maraschino cherries)

Cube the cake into 2” pieces and layer it in a 9x13” pan. Cut macaroons in quarters and sprinkle evenly over the cake cubes. Slightly warm the jam in the microwave so that it spoons easily. Mix the jam and sherry. Drizzle over the cake and macaroons and cover.

~Custard~

2 cups cold milk

1 / 4 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks

Combine in a mixing bowl: milk, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks and whisk to blend. Stir and microwave until slightly thicken and set aside.

(Substitute with two large boxes of custard mix and add vanilla extract. Or you can substitute with vanilla yogurt)

Pour cooled custard over cake and macaroons, cover and allow it to rest while you prepare the topping.

~Topping~

1 (4 oz) carton heavy whipping cream

(or substitute with tub of ready made whipped cream product)

1 (4 oz) package toasted sliced almonds

1 (6 oz) jar maraschino cherries (drained)

Whip the cream until stiff and peaks. Ladle on top of the custard and use the back of a spoon to make decorative peaks. Sprinkle with the almonds and arrange the cherries on top. Refrigerate to set and serve.

Many amazingly good variations exist. A very popular one adds Almond Joy sliced candies instead of the macaroons. Crunchy French toast sticks is another as is Amaretto Italian liqueur in place of the sherry. The list goes on and on from country to country.

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