Healthy Blackberry Bread & Butter Pudding

Serves 10

As blackberry season has drawn to an end, I realised (rather last minute) that I wanted to send it off with one last bang.  And what a bang it was! I have always absolutely adored a good old fashioned bread and butter pudding – and let’s face it, who doesn’t?!  It’s such a wonderfully indulgent dessert that is just perfect to cuddle up with now that the cold weather has decided to stay. But as is always my mission, I wanted to try to make it that little bit healthier, but just as delicious. And after a bit of experimenting – mission accomplished! 

 This version was made using wholemeal croissants, very little sugar, loads of fruit, some superfood powder and minimal dairy.  We are not totally dairy free in our house but my son has a mild dairy intolerance, which means he can have some dairy, but not loads. And this recipe is a great example of that – I used vegan croissants, oat milk and oat cream, but I did use real butter on the croissants.  But this recipe is pretty versatile depending on your dietary requirements and I’m sure that could be easily replaced with vegan butter for those that are fully dairy-free.  Equally, the oat milk and oat cream can be substituted for dairy should you want the real deal! And you could use some soft wholemeal bread if you can’t get your hands on any wholewheat croissants.

It is so deliciously decadent tasting; it’s difficult to believe that it it’s not laden with sugar and refined carbohydrates.  One portion provides 294 calories, 6g of protein and 6g of fibre; all with under 8g of sugar.  And when you compare that to a traditional bread and butter pudding recipe that has on average 20g of sugar, it’s pretty good going.

INGREDIENTS

·      9 Wholewheat Croissants (I used Go Vegan Organic ones) or 9 slices of Wholemeal Bread
·      250mls Milk (I used Oat Milk)
·      250ml Single Cream (I used Oatly Oat Cream)
·      3 Eggs plus 1 extra Egg Yolk
·      3 tbsp Erythritol (or sugar of your choice)
·      45g Butter 
·      300g Blackberries
·      1 tsp Vanilla Paste (or Vanilla Extract if you can’t find the sweet paste)
·      85g Dried Fruit of your choice (I used Dried Mulberries)
·      Optional - 2 tsp Acai Powder for an added nutritional boost 

METHOD

·     Preheat the oven to 180 degrees 
·     To make the sweet creamy sauce - heat the milk, cream, vanilla paste and acai powder (if using) in a medium saucepan to just below boiling point. 
·     In the meantime, mash half of the blackberries and leave the rest whole.
·     In a large measuring jug, whisk the eggs and extra yolk with the erythritol (or sugar of your choice) and add the mashed blackberries.
·     Slowly pour the warm sweet creamy mixture into the jug with the eggs, and combine thoroughly.  
·     Lightly grease a large ovenproof dish and butter both sides of the croissants.  
·     NOTE: If you are using slices of bread instead of croissants, then butter both sides of the bread and cut into triangles.
·     Arrange the croissants (or bread) in the ovenproof dish, sprinkle with dried mulberries and nestle in the whole blackberries in between the croissants.
·     Then pour over the sweet creamy mixture and leave it to soak for at least half an hour (or even longer, if covered in the fridge).
·     Bake it in the oven for 40 minutes or until it has turned golden brown and is cooked through.
·     Enjoy with a dollop of cream, yogurt or ice-cream and extra berries.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION 

Calories – 294
Protein – 6g
Fat – 18g
Carbohydrates – 30g
Fibre – 6g
Sugars – 8g
Vitamin A – 8%
Calcium – 10%