Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding – A delectable bread and butter pudding made with mincemeat, flaked almonds and orange zest. This delicious pudding can be prepared beforehand and then just popped in the oven whilst you are eating the main course. It reheats well in the microwave and is wonderful when served with fresh pouring cream.

Perfect for any leftover Mincemeat

It’s Twelfth Night, the 5th January, and I’m trying very hard to finish all of the Christmas and New Year leftovers, as well as all of the chocolates, biscuits, cakes, cheese and mince pies! Tomorrow, in theory, will be the start of a new healthy eating plan for the New Year, and I will be back on the 5:2 and WW diet again, so, today’s pudding is a bit of a high calorie last splurge before it’s back to grazing on fruit for dessert. This recipe for Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding uses the few spoons of mincemeat that I had left, as well as some stale bread, an over-ripe orange and a few flaked almonds left over from Christmas baking. It’s a frugal recipe, but is also curiously indulgent, as all bread and butter puddings tend to be……soft souffle type sandwiches that wobble in the golden set of the egg custard, with a citrus zing, spiced mincemeat richness and the crunch of toasted almonds…..it’s a delight and so easy to make.

We enjoyed this delectable dessert after lunch today, which was also a meal made up of festive leftovers, Smoked Salmon and Avocado Wraps, recipe to follow soon. Tonight’s dinner will be a proper sit down Twelfth Night feast comprising the rest of the roast beef from New Year’s Day, Curried Beef & Apricot Pie with a Salt Glaze Crust, served with the last of the Brussels Sprouts (although I will still be buying them whilst they are in season), some leftover Spiced Red Cabbage and a big bowl of Mashed Potatoes too.

I have saved two Christmas crackers for us to crack tonight, as we take down the decorations, and we’ll have a wee dram as we pack them away….it’s a tradition that my parent’s always observed, and which I am happy to continue. There may still be a few mince pies and chocolates left to tempt us in the pantry, but we’ll keep them for weekend treats, as well as the giant slab of Stilton cheese I still have too! It will be sad to see the twinkling lights from the tree packed away, but I am an avid follower of traditions, customs and the seasons, and it will be all the more sweet when they are brought out again next Christmas.

But, back to today’s recipe for Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding…..I’m sure most of my readers will still have a few spoons of mincemeat left, as well as bread, flaked almonds and oranges too, but it not, then I have shared some more mincemeat recipes below that might be better suited to what you have available. The recipe is shared below, and I will be back early next week with my recipe for Smoked Salmon and Avocado Wraps, as well as some new and exciting healthy recipes for the New Year. Have a WONDERFUL Twelfth Night, and see you next week, Karen

Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding

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Serves	4 to 5
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	1 hour
Allergy	Egg, Milk, Wheat
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Dessert
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Christmas, Formal Party
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding - A delectable bread and butter pudding made with mincemeat, flaked almonds and orange zest. This delicious pudding can be prepared beforehand and then just popped in the oven whilst you are eating the main course. It reheats well in the microwave and is wonderful when served with fresh pouring cream.

Ingredients

• 4 slices thick cut slices of white bread
• Softened butter, to spread (plus extra for greasing)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons mincemeat
• Zest of 1 orange
• 4 large free-range eggs (beaten)
• 450mls full fat milk
• 50g light brown sugar
• Flaked almonds

Note

Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding - A delectable bread and butter pudding made with mincemeat, flaked almonds and orange zest. This delicious pudding can be prepared beforehand and then just popped in the oven whilst you are eating the main course. It reheats well in the microwave and is wonderful when served with fresh pouring cream.

Directions

Step 1	Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease a deep baking tin generously with butter.
Step 2	Butter all the slices of bread, and spoon the mincemeat over two slices; scatter some of the grated orange zest and flaked almonds over the mincemeat and then place the remaining two slices on top to make two sandwiches.
Step 3	Cut each sandwich into four triangles, and arrange them pointed side up in the buttered baking tin.
Step 4	Add the milk and sugar to the beaten eggs and mix well, before adding the remaining grated orange zest.
Step 5	Pour the egg mixture over the mincemeat sandwiches, gently pushing them down so they are covered in the mixture. At this stage you can leave the mixture for several hours or overnight, or bake straight away.
Step 6	Scatter more flaked almonds over the top and bake in pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the pudding is set, well risen like a souffle and is golden brown.
Step 7	Serve straight away with custard or pouring cream.

More Mincemeat Recipes:

Baked “Cake Crumb” Mincemeat Pudding

Twelfth Night & Epiphany:

Mincemeat Soda Bread

Mincemeat Scones 

Duvet Apples & Frosty Mornings!

Festive Baked Apples with Mincemeat and Honey

Little Custard Pies with Mincemeat and Almonds

And a SPECIAL Victorian Epiphany Recipe:

Dorothy Hartley, Cattern Cakes & Lace

and a

Victorian Epiphany Tart Recipe

Customs and traditions that surround Twelfth Night and Epiphany are:

The Green Man

The Green Man is deeply rooted in a whole host of customs and traditions. He is also known as the Wild Man, Jack-in-the-Green, the Green Knight, the May King and sometimes Robin Hood. He is irrepressible life: At Twelfth Night he appears all in holly

The Mummers

Folk plays are performed at Midwinter all over England. They were generally referred to as “Mummings” or earlier as “Guizings”, and disguise played a big part.

King Bean and Queen Pea

King Bean and Queen Pea are chosen at the end of the play – take a cake and see if you are one of the lucky pair! This King and Queen were crowned for the day as part of the general revelry, and ‘Twelfth Cake’ or ‘King’s Cake’ (referring to the three Magi) was once very popular in London.

Wassailing

Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon waes hal, meaning, ‘be whole’. If somebody bids you ‘wassail’ you may reply ‘drinkhail’, meaning ‘your health’. The invitation to festivity in this response is obvious! The wassail bowl was a hot drink including apples, sugar, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and ale. The bowl with evergreen boughs is carried from house to house and the inhabitants invited to drink wassail to the season: Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green.

(From the The Lions Part)