Chocolate Bread Pudding with Butter

• dark chocolate↗100g g

  finely chopped

• double cream↗200ml ml

  plus extra for serving

• whole milk↗600ml ml
• eggs↗3
• golden sugar↗140g g
• large white loaf of bread↗1

  (800g) unsliced (1‑2 days old, if possible will be much easier to cut)

• chocolate spread↗300g g

  cookie spread or canned caramel

• marmalade↗100g g

  plus extra for serving

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Melt the chocolate and cream together in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Heat the milk in a large saucepan.

2. 2

   Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl or jug. Pour in the hot milk while continuing to whisk, then add the chocolate mixture and whisk again until smooth.

3. 3

   Remove the crusts from the bread (they work well for crumbs after freezing). Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the loaf into 4‑5 lengthwise pieces (about 2 cm thick) – it’s easiest if you first mark the cut line on the top.

4. 4

   Spread the chosen paste on one side of each slice. Roll the slices, starting from the short edges, then cut each roll in half or into three pieces to obtain 10‑12 roll‑puddings. Place them cut side up in a baking dish. Pour over the chocolate custard, ensuring each roll is well soaked. Cover with film and let sit for at least 30 minutes for the bread to absorb the cream, or refrigerate overnight if desired.

5. 5

   Preheat the oven to 170 °C/150 °C with convection/gas 3½. Glaze the tops of the bread spirals with marmalade, then bake for 45 minutes until the bread rises and the custard thickens. Glaze again with marmalade for a shiny surface and serve warm with whipped cream.