Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

This wickedly sticky bread and butter pud is a tribute to our love of toast with butter and marmalade. And given that it relies on slightly stale or day-old bread, it feels particularly timely when we might not be buying fresh bread as often as usual.

Serves 6

salted butter, softened

6 thin slices day-old white bread, with crusts

150g coarse-cut marmalade

300ml double cream

300ml fresh orange juice

8 medium egg yolks 100g golden caster sugar

• Butter the slices of bread on one side and spread with marmalade. Cut them into 2 triangles and lay these in two rows of overlapping slices, marmalade-side up, along the length of a 35cm, 2.6-litre oval gratin or other shallow ovenproof dish. Arrange the rows at an angle to each other so the surface is even.
• Pour the cream and orange juice into a small nonstick saucepan and bring to the boil.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl, then whisk in the hot cream and orange mixture and return to the saucepan.
• Gently heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, ensuring the entire base of the pan is reached so the custard doesn’t stick, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Pour this through a sieve over the bread, as evenly as possible. Gently press down with the back of the spoon to coat the bread thoroughly and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Place the gratin dish in a roasting pan with warm water that comes two-thirds of the way up the sides and bake for 30-35 minutes until the custard has set on top, the edges of the bread are golden and crisp, and the marmalade sticky and glazed. Serve 5-10 minutes out of the oven.