Nicola Lamb’s Bread-and-Butter Pudding with Caramel Mandarins

To prepare the oranges, remove the skin and pith and slice into 1cm rounds. Set aside.

To make the poaching syrup, put the sugar in a pan with 60g of the water and stir until it is all dissolved. If the sugar grains are on the pan’s edge, use a pastry brush dipped in water to remove them or it can cause the mixture to crystallise when heating. Alternatively, place a lid on the pan for the first 3 minutes of heating. Heat the sugar/ water over a high heat until you get a dark caramel, about 5–8 minutes. If preferred, you can make this as a dry caramel (see Colour on page 86).

Once the mixture is a dark golden, turn off the heat and add the remaining 50g water and the sweet wine, bit by bit – it will splutter, split and seize! Just add little bits at a time and, if it doesn’t all dissolve, heat gently whilst whisking. Bring the liquid back to the boil, then add your fruit. Simmer for 1 minute, then pour into a heatproof container to cool completely. The oranges can be made 3 days in advance, kept in the fridge.

Then, make the custard infusion. Heat the milk and cream with the citrus peels, cinnamon and vanilla, if using. Bring to the boil, then switch off the heat and cover, leaving it to infuse for at least 30 minutes but up to several hours. You can also do this the night before and leave to infuse in the fridge.

To prepare the custard, add the sugar to the infused milk/cream mixture and heat until steaming. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Whilst whisking the egg yolks, pour over the hot milk/cream mixture and whisk well. Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the peels, cinnamon stick and vanilla, if using. Set aside.

Line your loaf tin with baking paper. To prepare the bread base, brush one side of each brioche slice with the melted or brown butter. Leave to cool slightly, then cut the bread into 2–3cm squares.

Pile the brioche squares loosely into your lined loaf tin. It’s nice if there are pockets for the custard to settle into.

Now pour the custard over. Go slowly, filling in all the gaps and ensuring each piece of bread gets a soaking. If the ones on the top miss out, that’s OK – they’ll just be extra crisp.

Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. If using a water bath, place the loaf tin in a larger baking tray with high sides and fill halfway with boiling water. You can skip this step, but you will get the best results with a water bath. However, please make sure your loaf tin is watertight first!

Bake for 40–50 minutes or until a probe thermometer inserted into the middle of the pudding reads at least 74–75°C. Start checking after 40 minutes.

Either turn out and serve immediately or leave to cool completely, then cut into thick slices and fry in butter, around 1–2 minutes per side.

Serve with custard or cream, plus the caramel poached oranges in their syrup. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3 days.