Jamie’s hot cross bun bread and butter pudding recipe

1. Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, add the milk, cream, vanilla extract and 2 tbsp sugar, then whisk until smooth. 
2. Grease a 24cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan with a knob of the butter, then tip in 1 tbsp sugar into the pan and shake around to coat – this will give you the most gorgeous, caramelised outside. Tap gently, then tip any excess sugar back into a small bowl for later. 
3. Slice each hot cross bun into 3 rounds and butter them on one side. Take the bottom and middle pieces and dip into the custard mixture, then layer up the edges of the pan and over the base – tear some of the slices to fit snugly into the pan to fill any gaps. 
4. Scatter in two-thirds of the chocolate eggs (or snap in the dark chocolate), dollop on half the jam, then dip the hot cross bun tops into the custard, lay them on top and press down. Pour over the remaining custard and finish with the remaining chocolate eggs and jam. 
5. Leave to soak for 5 mins (the more it sucks up, the better!), then sprinkle with the remaining sugar.  
6. Bake for 25 mins or until set. Allow the pudding to rest for 10 mins, then carefully slide onto a serving board or plate. 
7. Serve with extra cream, if you like – it’s delicious cold too, if you’ve got any left over!

Tips and swaps

• If you're pushed for time, assemble it the night before, store in the fridge, then bake the next day. Simple!
• This recipe is super-flexible – swap the hot cross buns for stale croissants, brioche or bread, if that’s what you’ve got.
• You can use any sugar in place of the golden caster sugar, but you might not get as much caramelisation. 
• Use any type of jam or marmalade, and switch out the chocolate eggs for whatever you’ve got. Just have fun with it.
• You can double or triple the recipe – perfect for when you have guests.

See more Jamie Oliver recipes