Name: Bacon and egg pudding with salted maple
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 4 - 6
Ingredients: 8 thick slices of sourdough bread or 4 English muffins, split in half; 20 gm butter, diced, plus extra for greasing; 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; 2 tsp thyme, plus extra leaves to serve; 250 gm crème fraîche; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard; 250 ml pouring cream (1 cup); 8 eggs; 250 ml milk (1 cup); 1 tsp Tabasco; 6 rashers streaky bacon, rinds removed, plus extra crisp bacon (optional), to serve; 150 gm Gruyère, coarsely grated; 30 gm finely grated parmesan; Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve; Salted maple; 125 ml maple syrup (½ cup); 20 gm butter, diced; 1 tbsp bourbon (optional)

Bacon and egg pudding with salted maple

Think of this as a savoury bread and butter pudding, for breakfast.

Serves 4 - 6

Prep

20M

Cook

1H 45M

Total

2H 5M

Think of this as a savoury bread and butter pudding. It’s full of all the things we love at breakfast – bacon, eggs, toast and plenty of cheese. It’s an excellent option if you’re having friends over for breakfast – you can do all the work the night before and bake it in the morning. Salted maple syrup riffs on the classic American bacon-maple combination.

Ingredients

8 thick slices of sourdough bread or 4 English muffins, split in half

20 gm butter, diced, plus extra for greasing

1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tsp thyme, plus extra leaves to serve

250 gm crème fraîche

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

250 ml pouring cream (1 cup)

8 eggs

250 ml milk (1 cup)

1 tsp Tabasco

6 rashers streaky bacon, rinds removed, plus extra crisp bacon (optional), to serve

150 gm Gruyère, coarsely grated

30 gm finely grated parmesan

Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Salted maple

125 ml maple syrup (½ cup)

20 gm butter, diced

1 tbsp bourbon (optional)

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 180C and butter a 2-litre baking dish. Place bread in a single layer on an oven tray and bake until light golden (3-4 minutes).

2.Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add leek, garlic and thyme, and sauté until leek is tender and translucent (4-5 minutes).

3.Whisk crème fraîche, mustard and half the cream in a bowl until smooth. Add eggs, milk, Tabasco and remaining cream, whisk to combine, then season custard to taste.

4.Layer bread in baking dish, tucking bacon rashers in between, then scatter with Gruyère and pour custard over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to soak (or overnight).

5.For salted maple, boil maple syrup in a large saucepan until caramelised (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter, bourbon and 50ml water (be careful, hot caramel will spit), then return to heat and bring back to the boil. Stir in ½ tsp sea salt, then stand at room temperature until required. Salted maple will keep in an airtight container for a week.

6.Preheat oven to 150C. Scatter pudding with parmesan, season to taste and bake until golden brown (1-1½ hours). Stand for 10 minutes, then scatter with flat-leaf parsley and thyme, and serve with salted maple and extra bacon.