Cranberry and White Chocolate Panettone Pudding

There was a fair amount of domestic godessery in the air the day I managed to smuggle squirrel some of the Cranberry and White Chocolate Panettone into the freezer, for I knew just where their destiny was to lie!  They made a very nice adaptation to my favourite Bread and Butter Pudding recipe which we had for dessert on New Year's Eve. 

Dinner was the now traditional haggis; meat for Hubby and veggie for me; served straight up for Hubby and in a pie for me; with mashed potato and some buttered spinach on the side.  But dessert was the dish I was looking forward to the most. 

Cranberry and White Chocolate Panettone Pudding
300g Cranberry and White Chocolate Panettone
115g white chocolate, finely chopped
5 medium eggs, beaten
900ml milk
115g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.  Cut the panettone into 2.5cm thick slices.  Arrange a few slices over the base of a 1.5 litre oven proof dish.  Scatter over one third of the chocolate.  Layer the remaining panettone slices in the dish, scattering with the rest of the chocolate.

Beat together the eggs, milk and all but 25g of the caster sugar.  Pour the egg mixture over the bread and leave to soak in for 30 mins.

Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the pudding and bake for 25 mins, or until risen and golden.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or cream.

Serves 10

This is an adaptation of a bread and butter pudding recipe I first made for dessert on Christmas Day a few years back now, I can't remember where I got it from originally.  I haven't added butter to the panettone slices as I felt there was already more than enough in the panettone recipe itself and it didn't seem to suffer any for it, but if you are a stickler for these things please feel free to butter the slices before you add them to the baking dish.  I have also omitted the spices from the original recipe because, again, I felt the panettone already had enough flavours in it.

The recipe certainly does feed a crowd though so it is perfect for this time of year when you are likely to have people popping by ... or to keep in the fridge to have dessert for quite a few nights to follow ;0)