Bread and Butter pudding

Let's be frank (and I don't mean the annoying new insurance company), times are still tough. For the average person on the street, numbers and figures on wall street looking promising doesn't mean a thing. July, the month of saving, has been my most difficult month yet, I look over my expenses and there hasn't REALLY been anything outstanding and still, I am holding my breath until the 25th.

So when asked to bring something for dessert on a Friday night, my mind jumped first to "Malva pudding" I love making it as a bring along dessert, I make the batter and the butterscotch sauce and bake it while dinner is being eaten so it can be served warm and luscious at the end. Then I remembered that cream and butter were in short supply at my house and that my credit card would hate me hard if I even thought about it...

I started looking through my mental inventory of what I DID have at home and remembered a challa, sitting patiently in my freezer, waiting to be eaten. A Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) challa full of raisins and sultanas. I knew what I was going to make. I had enough butter, milk and eggs. Some bananas and cranberries found their way into the dessert and there we had it.

I didn't really use any recipe, they are all mostly the same. I just googled the what the ratio of eggs, milk and sugar was for a baked custard as a guide.

Bread and Butter Pudding 

1 loaf challa (I used the round kind)
100g butter
1,5l milk
8 eggs
120ml sugar
1 tsp vailla
1 large banana (optional)
1 cup cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C
Butter an oven proof dish thoroughly.
Slice the bread into thick slices and better each side.
Mix together the milk, eggs and sugar and set aside.
Slice the banana.
Put down a layer of bread, followed by banana, then bread, then cranberries, then banana, then bread. (If you are not adding fruit, just layer the bread).
Slowly pour in the custard. You will need to do it in batches, waiting for the bread to soak in the custard.
Place in the oven for 45 minutes and then allow to set.