, Step by step

Pear and chocolate bread and butter pudding

The pear and chocolate bring a rich and indulgent autumnal twist to a family favorite.

Mark Stower, Director of Food and Service

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Step 1

Set the oven to 140˚C/Gas 2. Lightly butter an ovenproof dish or 4 individual dishes.
Step 2

Take the brioche rolls and slice into 1 cm rounds, now arrange into your ovenproof baking dish.
Step 3

Scatter over the dried cranberries and the chopped chocolate.
Step 4

To make the custard mix, place the cream and milk into a bowl and add the whole eggs and egg yolks, whisk lightly until thoroughly combined.
Step 5

Now add the caster sugar and vanilla bean paste and mix again.
Step 6

Pour the custard mix over the sliced brioche and let the cranberries and chocolate mix into the custard mix as it fills the dish. Leave for 15 minutes to allow the custard mix to soak into the brioche.
Step 7

Now take the pears, slice thinly, fan out and place on top of the brioche.
Step 8

Place into the pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
Step 9

When cooked, take out of the oven and drizzle over the honey to give a nice shine.

Botanically, pears are closely related to apples and are members of the rose family which also includes strawberries!
It is believed that the pear was introduced to this country when the Romans were occupying Britain. There is a reference to this fruit in the Domesday Book, where it is said that pear trees were used as boundary markers. Later in the Middle Ages more varieties of cooking pears were introduced from Europe but pears suitable for eating raw were only grown much later in the !8th and 19th centuries.
Pears are in season in the UK from September. There are hundreds of varieties of them, but we grow relatively few different types here commercially, with Conference pears accounting for about 90% of production. This variety takes its name from the ‘British National Pear Conference’ where they were first shown in 1895 by Thomas Rivers who bred them at his family nursery in Sawbridge, Hertfordshire.
Pears are a good source of fibre, especially if eaten with the peel, and many of the nutrients lie close to the skin. They are a useful source of vitamin C.
Mark’s recipe this month combines pears with chocolate – one of the most delicious ways of eating this fruit, provided it’s an occasional treat! Each portion of this dish provides half of one of your 5 A Day.

DR JULIET GREY, COMPANY NUTRITIONIST