Atul Kochhar's fennel bread & butter pudding with ginger custard

It's great when a recipe comes along that makes you throw your boring, bog-standard version in the bin and Atul Kochhar has done just this with his bread and butter pudding recipe

• Preparation: 20 mins
• Cooking: 25 mins
• Serves: 8

What you need:

For the fennel bread and butter pudding

• 600ml whole milk
• 3 tbsp fennel seed
• 3 large British Lion eggs
• 100g granulated sugar + 3tbsp for sprinkling
• 220g brioche loaf, sliced
• 50g soft unsalted butter

For the ginger custard

• 200ml whole milk
• 200ml double cream
• 30g root ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 4 large British Lion egg yolks
• 75g granulated sugar

What you do:

1. For the pudding, place the milk and fennel seeds in a pan, bring to the boil, then set aside and leave to infuse for up to 3 hours. For the custard, place the milk, cream, ginger and vanilla in a pan and bring to the boil, then leave to infuse in the same way.
2. Finish the pudding: beat the whole eggs and 100g sugar together then strain over the fennel-flavoured milk. Beat well until the sugar dissolves.
3. Butter a 1.5ltr (3pt) rectangular ovenproof dish. Spread the butter over the brioche then arrange in a couple of overlapping layers. Pour the fennel custard over the brioche pushing it down with a spoon until it is submerged. Leave to soak for 30 mins.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Put a kettle of water on to boil. Place the dish in a roasting tin and pour boiling water from the kettle to come half way up the outside of the dish. Sprinkle the top with the extra sugar. Bake for 25-30 mins or until just set and slightly risen.
5. Meanwhile finish the ginger custard: beat the egg yolks with the sugar; strain over the ginger milk then return to the rinsed out pan. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil. Pour into a jug and cool.
6. Once cooked, pop the pudding under a hot grill and cook for a couple of minutes until the sugary top has caramelised. Serve warm in squares with the ginger custard spooned around.

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