Recipe of the day: Chocolate hot cross bun bread and butter pudding

If you have achieved the near-impossible feat of having leftover hot cross buns after the Easter weekend, why not cover them in chocolate spread and drench in homemade chocolate custard to transform them into a chocolaty twist on a classic bread and butter pudding?

Try out this recipe from BBC Good Food to make yourself this memorable sweet treat.

Chocolate hot cross bun bread and butter pudding

Don’t throw out leftover hot cross buns, instead cover them in chocolate spread and drench them in homemade chocolate custard.

• Author: Liberty Mendez
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Category: Dessert
• Method: bake
• Cuisine: British
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 300ml double cream
• 300ml whole milk
• 200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 hot cross buns
• 6 tsp chocolate spread
• 6 eggs
• vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the cream, milk, 100g of the dark chocolate, the cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and whisk until the mixture is smooth and fully combined. Pour into a large bowl to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, split the hot cross buns and spoon 1 tsp chocolate spread over the base of each, then sandwich with the bun tops. Arrange the buns in a 5cm-deep, 30 x 20cm baking dish in a single layer, then sprinkle over the rest of the chopped dark chocolate.
3. When the chocolate cream mixture has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the eggs. Slowly pour this custard over the hot cross buns, then cover and chill for 1 hr until some of the custard has been absorbed by the buns.
4. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake for 40-45 mins until the top is golden and the custard is gently set. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then serve with ice cream, if you like.

Notes

Twist it

Chocolate orange
Change it up by filling the buns with orange curd instead of chocolate spread and adding orange zest to the custard.

This recipe was found on the BBC Good Food website and it originally from Good Food magazine, April 2022