Green & Black’s Hot Cross Bun and Butter Chocolate Chunk Pudding Recipe

Looking for an easy and decadent dessert for Easter Dinner or a sumptuous addition to Easter Sunday Brunch? You can’t go wrong with this absurdly rich bread pudding made with hot cross buns! The recipe calls for marmalade but mentions that you can use other jams or spreads if you prefer. I decided to use my very favourite homemade wild plum jam for this. Then I sprinkled chunks of Green & Black’s organic chocolate over the jam-covered buns.

I loved the fact that the recipe was so easy, but I made it even easier with another small change. Instead of using a whole vanilla bean in the custard, I just added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the egg and sugar mixture. A whole vanilla bean would have added more flavour, but this saved me the hassle of sieving the custard before pouring it over the buns.

And after thirty minutes of baking, here is the finished bread pudding! I could not believe how scrumptious this was; the chocolate chunks and whipping cream make it heavy on calories but it is so worth it! It’s filling too, so a little goes a long way! Give it a try and see for yourself; if your family likes hot cross buns, they’ll love this creamy pudding!

Green & Black’s Hot Cross Bun and Butter Chocolate Chunk Pudding

Ingredients:

• 500 ml Whipping cream
• 325 ml 2% Milk
• 1 Vanilla pod
• 3 Large eggs
• 115g Granulated sugar
• 6 Hot cross buns
• 50g Unsalted butter
• ½ Jar (approx. 220g) Coarse-cut marmalade
• 200g Green & Black’s Organic Dark 70%, Milk and White, broken into pieces
• Powdered or confectioner’s sugar to serve

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF.

Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan.

Split the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds out with the tip of a knife and add them to the saucepan along with the pod. Bring the milk, cream and vanilla to a boil and remove from the heat.

Whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar.

Remove the vanilla pod from the boiled milk and cream and slowly pour the mixture on to the egg and sugar while whisking.

Return the vanilla pod to the custard mixture to further enhance the flavour.

Split the hot cross buns into halves. Butter the cut sides and spread with marmalade.

In a baking dish, stack the buns at an angle with the buttered side facing up. The buns should rest on one another resembling fallen dominos.

Scatter the chocolate pieces over the buns, making sure to tuck plenty between each layer.

Sieve the custard mixture into a container then pour it on top of the buns in the baking dish. The tops of the buns should be visible once all the custard has been added. Allow the buns to soak in the custard for 15 minutes.

Boil water in a large roasting pan. Once the water is boiled, place the baking dish with the buns and custard into the larger pan to create a double broiler.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes. The dish is ready once there is a slight browning on the tops of the buns and there is a thick consistency to the custard.

Remove from the broiler and dust with powdered or confectioner’s sugar to serve.

Tip:

For an extra burst of flavour substitute your favourite jam for the marmalade, or even create a mixture. Apricot and raspberry are delicious substitutions.

Makes: 6-8 servings