Nelson Slices

I regularly have a good old dig through the tea towel box at our local charity shop. There's rarely anything of interest in there, but a few weeks ago there was a glut of fantastic tea towels, including a Victorian Kitchen one featuring recipes from East Anglia. It somehow found its way into my collection of blog props. One of the recipes printed on the tea towel was for Nelson Slices, a Norfolk version of bread pudding named after the Admiral Lord Nelson, who was himself a Norfolk man.

Last night I was in the mood for something sweet so I thought I'd try this new to me recipe. I was sceptical, especially at the sight of the soaking bread. Soggy bread doesn't look appealing whatsoever. Squeezing the excess water out was a bit fiddly and some soaked bread ended up down the sink drain, but somehow, in the end, after all the beating, a nice batter was formed.

I served the pudding hot with some cold custard and the whole family asked for seconds. It's a fantastic pudding using store cupboard ingredients. It's not the prettiest pudding in the world, but when you're wanting something sweet and you have a pound of stale bread needing used up, this is a great choice.

Norfolk slices can also be served cold, cut into squares and served as a cake.

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Nelson Slices

by Elizabeth 

A Norfolk version of bread pudding named after Admiral Lord Nelson.

Ingredients

• 454 grams stale bread
• 85 grams sultanas
• 85 grams raisins
• 85 grams butter, melted
• 2 tbsp orange marmalade
• 113 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp rum
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• generous pinch nutmeg
• caster sugar

Instructions

1. Break bread into chunks, place in a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for one hour.2. Drain water, squeezing out the excess. A sieve makes this easier.3. Preheat oven to 200 C/ 400 F. Butter a pie dish.4. Beat the soaked bread with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps.5. Stir in the dried fruit and add the butter, egg, sugar, marmalade, rum, lemon zest and nutmeg. Beat well.6. Pour into the prepared pie dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, in the centre of the oven, until golden and set.7. Sprinkle with caster sugar when hot from the oven.8. Serve hot, with cream or custard, as a pudding, or allow to cool and cut into squares.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 2 hour Yield: Serves 8-12

I have entered this recipe into the Tea Time Treats food bloggers challenge for February 2013, as the theme is 'perfect puddings'. The challenge is alternately hosted by Karen from Lavender & Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked