This delicious bread and butter pudding recipe made with brioche is also called Pudding Royale by Lenôtre boulangerie of Paris, whose recipe this is. Brioche drenched in creamy vanilla custard, warm and fruity and utterly more-ish…
It’s great for brunch, as a dessert with ice cream, custard or cream – or even for breakfast. And if you like bread and butter pudding – you’ll love this brioche version.
EQUIPMENT
2 × 9-in. (23-cm) round porcelain baking dishes, 1½ in. (4 cm) deep
Electric hand beater
Large baking pan for the bain-marie
INGREDIENTS
For the baking dishes
3 tbsp (1¾ oz./50 g) butter
2 tbsp (25 g) sugar
Custard
3 cups (750 ml) whole milk
1 Bourbon Madagascar vanilla bean, split lengthwise
5 eggs (1 cup/250 g)
8 egg yolks (scant ⅔ cup/160 g)
1½ cups (10½ oz./300 g) Sugar
To assemble
9 oz. (250 g) leftover day-old brioche
10½ oz. (300 g) assorted dried and candied fruit (such as golden raisins, currants, candied cherries)
To serve
Vanilla custard sauce, chocolate sauce or apricot or raspberry coulis
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C/Gas Mark 3). Grease the baking dishes with the butter, then sprinkle with the sugar until coated.
To prepare the custard, pour the milk into a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds and add the bean.
Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Cover and let infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the bean.
Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together for 1 minute until frothy. Slowly whisk in the warm milk on low speed.
To assemble the bread pudding, cut the brioche into approximately ¾-in. (1.5-cm) slices. If necessary, chop the dried and candied fruit into smaller pieces, removing any pits.
Line the bases of the baking dishes with brioche slices, packing them tightly together. Spoon the fruit over the brioche slices. Cut the remaining brioche into cubes, then scatter them over the fruit in a single layer.
Divide the custard between the dishes. Place them in the baking pan and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil if the tops brown too quickly. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Serve at room temperature or chilled, with vanilla custard sauce, chocolate sauce, or apricot or raspberry fruit coulis.
Extracted from French Pastries and Desserts by Lenôtre: 200 Classic Recipes Revised and Updated (Flammarion, 2021). Photo: © Caroline Faccioli
