How to make Colin's hot cross bun and butter pudding
Ingredients
2 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
2/3 cup caster sugar
400ml pouring cream
300ml full-cream milk
1 whole nutmeg
1 Tbsp finely grated ginger
75g salted butter, softened
10 hot cross buns, cut in half horizontally
8 free-range egg yolks
Mixed berries, to serve
Method
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Put cinnamon and star anise in saucepan on medium heat until fragrant. Add sugar, cook for 3-4 minutes, without stirring, until it starts to caramelise and is a pale golden colour. Remove from heat. Carefully add cream and milk.
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Finely grate 1/4 of the nutmeg. Stir into cinnamon mixture with ginger. Heat on medium until hot. Remove from heat. Stand for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional). Butter cut sides of buns. Arrange buns, overlapping, in a 20 x 30cm (10-12-cup capacity) ovenproof baking dish to fit.
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Strain cinnamon mixture through a sieve into a bowl, discard spices. Add egg yolks and whisk until well combined. Pour over buns. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Bake for 35 minutes, or until custard is just set.
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Serve warm with berries or strawbs syrup (see recipe below).
COOK’S TIPS
If whole fresh nutmeg is unavailable, replace it with 1/2-1 teaspoon of dried nutmeg.
Strawbs syrup recipe
To make syrup from 250g punnet of strawberries, cut off tops with 1cm flesh attached. In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine tops, 2 Tbsp sugar and enough water to cover. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Pour over strawberries through a sieve. Refrigerate until cold.
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