Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

To prolong that festive holiday feeling we went to the cinema en famille yesterday.  It's rare that we can find a film that Mum, Dad, two teenage boys and our 8-year-old 'extra girly, fashion-loving, happily-ever-after-seeking' daughter all want to see - but this time we had the perfect candidate ... Paddington.  It was a wonderful mixture of cute, funny, magical, nostalgic, a bit Christmassy, not too schmultzy.  Completely, definitely my new favourite film.

It's a film -

• about how a pair of dust busters can save your life,
• which features the glorious Julie Walters 'not being surprised at anything since the invention of the microwave',
• which introduces the game of playing Top Trumps with the ingredients list on a packet of your favourite biscuits,
• which reminds us of the importance of always having emergency rations under your hat ... BIG hat = BIG rations,
• starring Nicole Kidman as a leopard-skin-wearing, evil cat burglar taxidermist,
• headlining marmalade sandwiches ... and the occasional meat paste ones.

But most crucially, it's a film about home and the importance of being made to feel welcome in a new home - 'in London nobody's alike, which means everyone fits in' ... that gets top marks for a beautiful sentiment from me.

Oh yes, and it's also a film about how every family should have a Marmalade Day once a year.

So from 'marmaladeandme' to you - here's my interpretation of a Marmalade Day ... Find someone you love and watch the Paddington movie together.  Then when it's over and you are feeling as warm and fuzzy as a bear after a blow-dry, indulge in this Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding to complete a perfect, chocolate box experience ... it's made with Paddington-worthy marmalade sandwiches after all.

And here's how to make this Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

1. First, make marmalade sandwiches
2. Whisk together a cream, egg, sugar mix
3. Pour the mix over the sandwiches
4. Top the sandwiches with mixed peel and grated orange rind for orangey crunchiness
5. Pop it in the oven
6. Once cooked you get a puffy, creamy base with a crispy, golden, citrus topping.  Heaven.

This is an ideal festive leftovers dish too.  Leftover turkey is a given, but I also always have a supply of other leftovers -

• mixed peel - leftover from Christmas cake and Christmas pudding
• cream - leftover from always thinking that we'll use more than we actually do.  Note : You'll see from the recipe that the pudding itself doesn't use much cream, but I can say with confidence that you will pour SO much cream over this when you are eating it.  Trust me - I'm not a cream person but with this dessert, it's impossible to avoid.
• white sliced bread - it's the only way to go for a turkey sarnie and once it's gone past its best, the last few slices need a new use for sure.

There are loads of things that you'll love about this Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

• It's very quick and easy to make.
• Stale bread never tasted so good.
• It freezes surprisingly well.  Pop it in the freezer before cooking (at the end of stage 5) then defrost before cooking.
• It's also particularly delicious served at room temperature.  I wasn't expecting this either.  True story.
• And perhaps most importantly, it's the first recipe on this blog to include marmalade.  Now that alone, must make it worth giving it a go ...

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