Traditional Bread Pudding

My recipe for Traditional Bread Pudding is my Norfolk grannie’s recipe, and one that I saw her making many times, when I was staying with her.

An Old-Fashioned Norfolk Recipe using Stale Bread

My recipe for Traditional Bread Pudding is my Norfolk grannie’s recipe, and one that I saw her making many times, when I was staying with her.

Also called Wet Nelly in Liverpool, and Nelson’s Cake or Nelson Bread Pudding, it’s a fabulous but frugal recipe that uses up stale bread.

It’s made in many forms, with my grannie’s Traditional Bread Pudding recipe being baked, and then cut into squares.

Nelson’s Slices is another variation on this recipe, where the bread pudding part is baked between two layers of pastry. There’s also an Irish recipe which is similar called Gur Cake.

Gur Cake uses cake crumbs rather than bread, and is traditioinally associated with Dublin, where bakeries used stale cakes to make the filling.

Times are quite hard currently, energy bills are soaring and the price of food has gone up significantly.

So it’s nice to know that this bread pudding can be baked in an air fryer, as well as a conventional oven. I’ll list that method below in the Notes section.

I always use a mixture of bread, such as white, best of both and wholemeal, and unlike some recipes who suggest you remove the crusts, I leave mine on.

My grannie’s recipe used a splash of rum in her mixture, I have left this out, but it does add a lovely caramel flavour and can be added for a more festive pudding.

I have also added the brandy when I made this one Christmas, it was just before we moved house and was by way of a last minute Christmas-type pudding.

Serve this pudding warm with custard, cream or creme fraiche for a fabulous cheap and cheerful family “afters”.

Stale bread is best, but I have been known to use fresher bread that was bought in the reduced section of the supermarket with equally nice results.

Freeze individual portions in cling film or baking paper for the future. It does however keep in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days, and even longer if you’ve added rum or brandy.

Air Fryer Method and Notes

For baking in an air fryer:

Pre-heat the air fryer to 180C and set to the BAKE function. I used a Ninja Max Health Grill and Air Fryer. Once the appliance has heated up, place the baking dish in the base conainer and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes

Notes:

Freeze individual portions in cling film or baking paper for the future. It does however keep in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days, and even longer if you’ve added rum or brandy.

Reheat in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes for each square.

You can also make this with Brioche or any type of bread product, as long as it it not too savoury.

More Pudding Recipes

• Eve’s Pudding with Blackberries & Apples
• Rhubarb Stirabout – An Old-Fashioned Pudding
• Baked “Cake Crumb” Mincemeat Pudding

• Kentish Cherry Batter Pudding
• An Autumn “Summer Pudding” Recipe for Sunday Lunch
• Traditional Victorian Christmas Pudding

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Recipe for Traditional Bread Pudding