Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding

Until last Christmas, I had never bought a panettone and, for some reason, I decided to buy three.  I am still not quite sure what came over me.  I had only ever eaten panettone twice before - once in 1982 during an Italian language class, and about 4 years ago at a cafe in Leederville when I didn't feel like toast.  I don't mind the taste of panettone, but I generally prefer my bread to be plain and unfruity.  Panettone originated in Milano, and is eaten throughout the year in Italy, but especially at Christmas.  In Perth, we only see panettone in the shops at Easter and Christmas so perhaps I was suddenly overcome with temporary siege mentality and felt the need to stock up.  I have had no idea what to do with them so, since Christmas, I've had two large panettone boxes taking up room in my pantry and one de-packaged panettone in my freezer, waiting for inspiration to strike. 

My only inspiration to date has been to use it in bread and butter pudding.  You may be thinking why on earth would I be baking a bread and butter pudding in the middle of summer.  Well, apart from needing to reduce the occupant:panettone ratio in my household, I thought my northern hemisphere readers would enjoy a winter's dessert.  And for my southern hemisphere readers, it is possible to eat bread and butter pudding cold.  Yes, cold, and it is actually quite nice. 

Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding

1 x 900g panettone
zest of 1 orange
150g unsalted butter, and a little extra for greasing
2 tsp vanilla paste
600m whipping cream
600ml full cream milk
5 eggs
150g caster sugar

Grease a 1.5 litre baking or casserole dish with unsalted butter.  Cut the panettone into thick slices (mine were about 2cm) and remove the crusts.

Place the butter, orange zest, and one teaspoon of the vanilla paste into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter is melted.

Brush both sides of the panettone with the melted butter and arrange in the casserole dish.

Heat the cream, milk and the remaining vanilla paste until just below boiling point.  Using a mixer, beat the eggs and the caster sugar until thick.  Add the cream/milk to the egg mixture and mix on a very slow speed until combined.  Pour over the bread and leave for at least one hour until the bread has absorbed the custard.

Heat the oven to 150 degrees celsius and bake for 45 minutes.  Ideally, you should put the dish in a bain marie.  I didn't, as the casserole dish I used was too big.  The custard did curdle a little bit, but this did not affect the taste.

This is the kind of pudding you eat on a cold, dark winter's night as it does warm the cockles. The panettone adds an extra dimension of sweetness, and hits those sugar cravings whether eaten hot or cold.  Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Any ideas on what to do with my remaining panettone would be gratefully received!

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