Sluttishly Sweet: Brioche, Vanilla and Rum Pudding

It's cold, wet and miserable outside which makes me want to make it as warm and cosy indoors as possible. This pudding is basically the food equivalent of being snuggled up on the sofa under a cosy duvet in front of a roaring log fire.

I use the packs of cheap brioche rolls from the supermarket for this, they cost just over £1 and you can get them filled with chocolate chips too for the same price. You don't have to include booze, just pour boiling water over your sultanas and leave overnight for a booze free version. Likewise I use duck eggs in this recipe as I just prefer them for it but chickens eggs are brilliant too.

You'll need: (serves 4 hungry people)

• 225g sultanas
• 100ml golden rum
• 600ml double cream
• 300ml milk
• 120g caster sugar
• 2 capfuls vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla pod split lengthways
• 4 eggs
• 8 brioche rolls
• sprinkle ground cinnamon
• big sprinkle grated nutmeg

Make it!

1. The day before you want to eat it, combine your sultanas and rum in a bowl and leave to infuse.
2. The following day put your cream, milk, sugar and vanilla extract in a saucepan. Scoop out the seeds from your vanilla pod and add them along with the pod itself to the saucepan. Heat gently until just starting to simmer then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Preheat your oven to 180C. Whisk your eggs in a bowl then very slowly whisk them bit by bit into your cream mixture (if you add them all at once your mixture may turn to scrambled eggs).
4. Slice your brioche rolls into half lengthways and arrange half of them in a layer in a small ovenproof tin. 
5. Scatter over half of your sultanas and some of your cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover with the rest of your brioche then the remaining sultanas. Pour over any rum that is left in the bowl then pour over your custard mixture (you can strain it to remove the vanilla pods but I love the smell of them roasting in the oven, just remember to remove them from the top before eating). 
6. Sprinkle with a bit more ground cinnamon and nutmeg then bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes. If the top starts to burn before the custard has set then simply cover with a bit of tin foil and continue to cook until set. Serve warm with custard/vanilla ice cream/double cream/all of them!