WALLET-FRIENDLY BANANA-CHOCOLATE BREAD & BUTTER PUDDING (NEW)

 Budget friendly version of indulgent Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding...

Leftover bread, ripe bananas & a few handfuls of chocolate
'Quite a treat considering it's budget friendly.' Taster

Not everyone can afford an egg-and-cream-rich pudding in Lockdown III.  But this  frugal version of the indulgent chocolate croissant banana bread and butter pudding is still a great Sunday lunch treat.  

It's another recipe that makes great use of ripe bananas and uses up stale bread.  No more than two eggs are required. 

The pudding - with an optional sophisticated alcohol twist - can go into the oven after the main course and be ready in 30 mins. 

The Blogger tried the recipe (adapted from Robert  Carrier) with homemade wholemeal bread in the interests of using up leftovers.  It was lovely, with a firmer texture than usual but creamy with pockets of melted chocolate underneath and deliciously crispy on top.

There's a bit of buttering, slicing and possible chopping of chocolate involved but none of the steps are difficult.  Using chocolate chips will make life easier.

Cost: £1.50 min, depending on available leftovers. 
Serves: 4

Ingred:
     8 slices bread, buttered

     3 ripe but not black bananas

     1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips or a bar of backing chocolate cut in shards

     1/4 cup/60 ml orange juice or orange liquor, brandy, whisky or white grape juice (opt)
     1-3 oz/25-75g sugar (67 didn't bother but compensated with maximum 56% dark chocolate; 70% chocolate will need a bit of sugar)
     3/4 pint/226 ml milk
     2 eggs
     4 tbsp light cream or Greek yoghurt

     1/2 tsp vanilla
     

Garnish:

1/2 tbsp sugar (opt)

icing sugar
    

Method:

1. Butter a shallow 3-pint/1.75L baking dish 
2. Remove crusts from bread if you wish (many people like the extra heft); butter lightly on one side  cut each slice in 4 triangles 
3. Brush unbuttered side of bread triangles in juice/alsohol until moist but not soggy; line bottom and sides of dish, buttered side up, first.  Slice bananas thinly vertically and cover first layer' scatter over chocolate.
4. Set aside a few triangles (say, 6) for later; carry on with another layer of triangles, bananas and chocolate  
5. Beat eggs, milk and cream or yoghurt.  Pour carefully over pudding; it should soak through the layers of bread 
6. Arrange remaining bread triangles on top. Sprinkle over sugar, if using.
7. Pre-heat oven to 400f, 200c, 180fan, gas 6
8. While waiting for the oven to heat, press down lightly on pudding to allow all layers to absorb egg-milk mix.
9. Bake 30 mins.  The top will be crisp & golden and the inside soft and creamy. 
10. Serve warm, with a generous layer of icing sugar OR
11. Serve with yoghurt-cream with vanilla extract or custard or softly whipped cream 

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This recipe has  been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  It may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.