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Vol. 26 · July 2026
A One-Pot Weeknight Journal Spice & Simmer Skillet · Stir-Fry · Sheet-Pan · Soup
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🍮 Sweet Finishes · Dessert · British

Bread and Butter Pudding

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026
Total time
38 min
Prep
13 min
Cook
25 min
Cleanup
1 pan
Bread and Butter Pudding

A one-pot Dessert recipe with British flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 61 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Grease a 1 litre/2 pint pie dish with butter.
  2. Cut the crusts off the bread. Spread each slice with on one side with butter, then cut into triangles.
  3. Arrange a layer of bread, buttered-side up, in the bottom of the dish, then add a layer of sultanas. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon, then repeat the layers of bread and sultanas, sprinkling with cinnamon, until you have used up all of the bread. Finish with a layer of bread, then set aside.
  4. Gently warm the milk and cream in a pan over a low heat to scalding point. Don't let it boil.
  5. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add three quarters of the sugar and lightly whisk until pale.
  6. Add the warm milk and cream mixture and stir well, then strain the custard into a bowl.
  7. Pour the custard over the prepared bread layers and sprinkle with nutmeg and the remaining sugar and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/Gas 4.
  9. Place the dish into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top is golden-brown.

Why this works on a weeknight

Bread and Butter Pudding lands at about 38 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sweet Finishes collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Bread and Butter Pudding actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍮 Sweet Finishes Dessert British Pudding Brunch
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