Layers of roasted rhubarb, tart raspberries, dark chocolate chunks and almond meal. It’s all soaked in a rich, eggy custard, and then baked until slightly puffy, springy and golden.
INGREDIENTS:
4-5 stems rhubarb
finely granted zest of ½ orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large brioche loaf- I used 1.5 loaves from this recipe and it was about 900g total
6 eggs
1 cup cream
2 cups whole milk
¾ cups Rogers Berry sugar + 4 tablespoons, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
¾ cup ground almonds
2½ cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup flaked almonds and 1 tbsp caster sugar to top
Vanilla Custard, to serve (recipe below)
INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 180°
Cut the rhubarb into 2 cm segments. Place in an oven dish lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar, orange zest and 1tsp vanilla.
Bake for 15 minutes or until just tender. Place in the fridge to cool.
Grease and line a 23cm spring form cake tin. Make sure it is really watertight to prevent leakage (I find that having a base of baking paper going under the springform edge helps to seal it tighter, and then I wrap the whole bottom of the tin in foil to catch any drips).
Beat together eggs, ¾ cup sugar, cream, milk and 1tsp vanilla in a jug In a small bowl, toss together the raspberries, dark chocolate, ground almonds and cooled roasted rhubarb.
Cut the brioche loaf into 2cm thick slices. Layer half the bread into the lined baking tin, cutting into halves and smaller bits to fit tightly without gaps.
Top with half of the fruit mixture. Layer with remaining bread in a tight layer, then the rest of the fruit mix.
Gradually pour over the cream custard - this might take a few minutes as it slowly soaks through the layers. I pour a bit, then leave it to stand for a few minutes, then pour over the remainder.
Top with the flaked almonds and the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar. Leave to stand for 15min.
Change the oven temperature to 160°C. Bake for the bread & butter pudding cake for about 75 min, or until it is golden and a skewer inserted comes out mostly clean.
Cool for at least 30min before serving Serve with vanilla custard (recipe below)
VANILLA BEAN CUSTARD
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoons vanilla or seeds of 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornflour
⅓ cup Rogers Berry sugar
INSTRUCTIONS: In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and cornflour with an electric beater. Add the sugar and beat until pale and thick.
Meanwhile, combine the milk and vanilla /vanilla bean seeds in a saucepan over medium until, until just simmering. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture onto the egg yolks, whisking continuously until fully combined.
Return the egg yolk and milk mixture to the sauce pan and stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. (remember that the custard will thicken further as it cools).
Cool until ready to serve.