Bread and Butter Pudding

This Instructable is for a very traditional New Zealand dessert.  It is not like, and should not turn out like, a bread pudding which you would find in the Americas.  

It is delicious and easy to make. My family always makes me make one for Christmas and such things, which gets a bit tired as I think I can make many other nice things, e.g. french toast or sausage rolls.  

The recipe is also available on my brother-in-law's recipes web page http://recipes.had.co.nz/275/bread-and-butter-pudding

And the final thing is not to underestimate the time to let it stand after cooking, the longer the better.

ALSO IF YOU LIKE THIS, VOTE IT BEST !!
 

50g butter, softened
1 or 2 large baguettes (one day old is best as it soaks up the liquid better)
2/3 cups dried cranberries (Trader Joe's has a pack for cheap)
1/3 cup apricot jam
3 large egg yolks
4 large eggs
3 T caster sugar or white sugar
400ml double cream/heavy whipping cream 
300ml milk
5 tbsp Baileys (but I like a duck load, the more the better I say, my wife says different)
demerara or brown sugar

Tools :

Big bowl
Small bowl 
Whisk 
Large baking dish
Bread knife 

Use some hot water to plump the cranberries. Let them soak for as long a you like but at least 5 mins.

Butter the dish and cut the bread. I like cutting the loaf at an angle for ponce factor. 
Butter the bits of bread.
Make a single layer of bread in the dish, then spread the JAM!! and add a liberal layer of berries.
Add another layer of buttered bread.

Crack and seperate the yokes of 4 eggs and combine with 3 whole eggs. 
Add the white sugar and whisk until creamy.

Add the 400ml double cream/heavy whipping cream, the milk, the Baileys and mix well.

Pour the custard over the bread and let sit till the bread soaks up the custardy goodness. It is after this you may gently press the bread to aid the absorption. 

It is also the time to decide if you have made enough custard. The liquid level should be at least submerging a third or so of the top layer of bread. Pressing the bread down helps.  If you don't have enough just mix some more up with the same approximate proportions of ingredients.

While it is sitting now is a good time to pre-heat your indoor fire to 180C or 350F. 

Sprinkle berries and brown/demerara sugar on the top and send it to the oven !

The preferred method at this point is to put the pudding dish into a water bath in the oven with the water level 1/3 of the way up the side.  But as I made this one in my biggest dish, it does not fit inside any of my other roasting dishes.  But never fear, just put a dish of water in the oven to keep it from drying out..pretty much turns out the same. 

Cook 40-50 mins.

Let the pupding stand for as long as you can or at least 15mins. If it's still runny, put it back in the oven.

Now, EAT IT!!! 

Note: It shouldn't tast eggy at all.  It should be sweet, velvety with a nice vanillery hint from the bailey's with caramely brown sugar on top.