butter makes everything better

Struck by an intense craving for bread and butter pudding, I scoured the Internet (well, actually the recipe was one of the first few I googled) and decided to make it last night.



Right after work, I rushed to Cold Storage in the rain and bought a loaf of bakery bread (I think it makes a difference from the dense Gardenia/Sunshine type). All the other ingredients were pantry staples, so I didn't even have to buy them.



I sort of winged it and modified the recipe. Assembly took a mere 15 minutes, then the bread had to soak for 30 minutes before being baked for another 30 minutes.



And by 11pm, I was wolfing down hot, custardy, chocolatey goodness. (It looked burnt, but wasn't. It was the brown sugar I sprinkled on top. My sis cruelly described it as one of those topographical Google maps.)

Here's the recipe I made up (for my own reference, because I am sure I will be making this over and over again):

Six to eight slices of white bread (with crust), cut into four triangles
Half a slab of unsalted butter (you can use less if you butter the bread less liberally, but I went all out)
Two cups of milk
Two eggs
Half a packet of chocolate chips for baking (I used the semi-sweet ones I found at the back of my fridge, leftover from a long-forgotten baking project; the recipe called for raisins, but I was morally opposed to them)
Five teaspoons of sugar (I used brown, but white may have been better)

Grease the oven-proof dish, which should be deep enough to allow the bread to soak.

Butter the bread triangles and layer in the dish, buttered side up. Toss in a large handful of chocolate chips. Continue layering with the bread until you reach the top of the dish.

Beat the two eggs in a container that has a spout for easy pouring, then add the milk and three teaspoons of sugar. Pour the mixture over the bread, making sure all the slices are soaked. Sprinkle the remaining two teaspoons of sugar on top.

Let the dish stand for at least 30 minutes, for the bread to be thoroughly soaked.

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Bake for about 30 minutes until the tops are slightly brown and the pudding has risen somewhat.

Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes (if you can wait that long), and dig in. You don't even need to add custard or ice cream, it's good enough on its own.