Saturday 5 September 2015

Blackberry Pud and Brownies



I like blackberries. They're full of goodness, they are free, and there
are so many tasty things you can make with them. Last Sunday we
picked enough fruit from hedgerows growing around here to fill
two punnets. Half of them were made into blackberry sorbet and
 we've added some to apple crumble. (Apple and blackberry crumble
with vanilla custard is one of my favourite desserts ever. Yum!)
The rest were made into bread and butter pudding.


I've never made bread and butter pudding before. I can't even
remember if I'd ever tasted it. But Nigel Slater's recipe looked easy,
and that photo was very tempting, I decided blackberry bread
and butter pudding is the perfect new thing for us to try this week.


It was very easy to make, a bonus when you're baking with kids.
I buttered, cut and arranged the bread. The girls mixed the egg
custard and poured it over the bread. They also helped scatter
the blackberries around, helping themselves to one or two of the
fruit as they did. Oh well, perk of the job.


We baked this for about 45 minutes. The middle had a nice
little wobble when it was taken out of the oven and I've now
learned that this is a good sign - the custard had set just right.
I was expecting it to be rich and heavy with all that bread but
it's surprisingly light and to me, it tasted better after it had cooled
down a bit. Actually I liked it just as much cold from the fridge.
Is that wrong? Does it have to be eaten warm at all times? Anyway,
temperature aside, it tasted really good. The blackberries added
texture and a bit of sharpness that worked well with the sweet
custard. Really nice. I'll make sure to freeze some blackberries
so we can make this many more times this autumn and winter.

Aside from the bread and butter pud, we've also made brownies
this week. This one is Lorraine Pascal' s Cookies and Cream
Fudge brownies.


It was a bit of a faff to make compared with the ones we usually
make but it's worth it. It's very gooey, chocolatey and very naughty!
There's only a tiny bit of flour in this, the rest is sugar, butter, eggs,
chocolate and Oreo cookies. Not for anyone who's diabetic or
watching their weight but if you're not worried about those things
then this brownie is pure chocolate indulgence!



So that's all our baking for this week. I'm taking it very easy
this weekend. Did you enjoy Bake Off last Wednesday? The
technical challenge was a bit ridiculous. Does anyone make their
own pitta bread at home? But I'm pleased for Nadia. She deserved
to be star baker this week.

Before I go I'd like to say a big thank you for your kind, helpful
and understanding comments in my last post. Your words have
heartened and encouraged me, thank you. The first week back at
school had gone well and Lulu was happy and confident when we
dropped in at the nursery yesterday so I'm less worried now. I'm
looking forward to it now actually. Lots of crafting and crochet time
for me hopefully. Thanks again for your kind comments.

Have a great weekend!



7 comments:

  1. Marion, your blackberry bread and butter pudding looks absolutely delicious and black berry sorbet sounds divine. It makes me laugh to think of you confessing to eating it from the fridge - I honestly can't see anything wrong with that at all!
    I'm not so keen on brownies. Although I love chocolate, strangely I'm not a huge fan of chocolate cakes. Glad to hear Lulu enjoyed her first days at nursery. Enjoy your weekend too!
    Caz xx

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  2. Apple and blackberry crumble is one of my favourites too. The bread and butter pudding looks delish and I think it's perfectly ok to eat it cold! The brownies look yummy as well.
    The old lady you met on the bus was right, you'll be able to enjoy some crafting and crochet time whilst Lulu is at nursery! xx

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  3. The bread and butter pud looks yum! I don't think temperature is a big deal as long as it tastes good :) The brownies look great too. Its great to pick your own blackberries. We used to do it as kids, it was such fun. Blackberry and apple crumble is also a favourite of mine.

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  4. The blackberry bread and butter pudding sounds delicious!!! I love blackberries in blackberry and apple crumble. I think that some of the challenges on GBBO have been a bit odd! xx

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  5. I thought pitta breads was a really boring technical challenge last week too, but I'm so glad Nadya got star baker - she is becoming my favourite contestant. That blackberry bread and butter pudding looks delicious. And blackberry and apple crumble is one of my favourite ever puddings too, it's total comfort food. x

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  6. Apple and blackberry crumble sounds divine! I really like bread and butter pudding too, but nobody else in the family is very keen on it, so I do 'to make it very often. I agree it is delicious after cooling slightly, but I have never tried it straight from the fridge. I think that would be really lovely though, rather like a slice of cold cake! X

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