Wattalapam Bread and Butter Pudding with Spiced Roast Apricots
The Modern Pantry's Sri Lankan-inspired recipe for Wattalapam Bread and Butter Pudding with Spiced Roast Apricots is a real crowdpleaser, best served during the summer months when apricots are in season.
Introduction
My dear friend, Elaine Murzi, ‘Queen of Tarts’ at The Modern Pantry, came up with this inspired version of a bread and butter pudding. Wattalapam is a Sri Lankan dessert rather like a flan, but heady with spice and coconut, which together with the croissants lift this classic pudding to a whole new level. Serve with Coconut Sorbet (see page 204 of The Modern Pantry), if you like.
Ingredients
| 400ml | coconut milk |
| 1 | cinnamon stick |
| 2½ tsp | ground allspice |
| 2½ tsp | ground cardamom |
| Seeds of 1 vanilla pod | |
| 50g | caster sugar |
| 75g | pale palm sugar, grated (or demerara sugar) |
| 200ml | double cream |
| 4 | large eggs |
| 6 | stale croissants |
| 3 | ripe bananas |
| 100g | unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing |
| For the spiced roast apricots: | |
| 6 | ripe apricots, halved and stoned |
| 30g | unsalted butter |
| 2 tbsp | sugar |
| ¼ tsp | ground star anise |
| ¼ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ⅛ tsp | ground cardamom |
| Juice of 1 lemon |
Essential kit
You will need: a deep-sided 30 x 20cm ovenproof dish.
Method
Place the apricots cut-side up in an ovenproof dish in which they fit snugly, putting a knob of the butter on top of each one.
Mix the sugar with the spices, sprinkle it over the apricots and then squeeze over the lemon juice. Bake in an oven preheated to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 for about 20 minutes, until tender. They can be served warm or at room temperature (if you don’t plan to eat them in the next couple of hours, store in your fridge until ready to serve; they will keep for up to three days).
To make the bread and butter pudding, butter a deep-sided 30 x 20cm ovenproof dish. Put the coconut milk, spices and sugars in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then whisk in the double cream and eggs.
Slice each croissant in three horizontally. Peel the bananas and slice them in three lengthways. Place a layer of croissant in the buttered dish, then a layer of banana. Pour over a third of the coconut custard mix and a third of the melted butter. Repeat the process twice.
Put the dish in a roasting tin, then pour hot water into the tin around the dish. Place in an oven preheated to 150°C/Gas Mark 2 and bake for 30–40 minutes, until the custard has set. Remove from the oven and serve with the roast apricots and Coconut Sorbet (see page 204).
