Kaye's Bread N' Butter Pudding with Plum, shaved Almonds and Chocolate

I went to my favourite cafe' one day because I was craving for one of their yummy banana muffins, unfortunately it was all gone by lunchtime. So, sitting in one corner of the glass cabinet was a sorry looking bread and butter pudding- it looked so ordinary and even the edges are a bit burnt but I decided to give it a try. When I paid for my order of coffee and the bread pudding, I was surprised at the cost, hmm, a bit dear for a mere, plain looking pudding- I thought...

Finally after a few minutes, my order was served and well, the plating looked excellent- it was served with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and affogato :) that was the Wow factor. 

I was very happy after that (LOL...), the pudding was very gourmet, cooked the usual way but with bits and pieces of apricot, prunes, and chocolate sandwiched in the layers.

So, yes that served as the inspiration for todays afternoon snack, but instead of apricots and prunes (which I am not very fond of), I used plums, shaved almonds, and dark chocolate chunks. If you want to take the classic bread and butter pudding recipe to a higher level then I suggest you try this one out, It's very easy to make:

INGREDIENTS:


Bread of your choice: white loaf, croissant, etc... just enough slices to fill a loaf tin.
butter
raspberry jam
shaved almonds, canned plums
baking chocolate brocken into chunks 
Milk mixture: 1 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c cream, 1/2 c condensed milk, vanilla (tsp.), 3 beaten eggs
cinnamon
ok, now the easy part :)


HOW TO:

1. Line tin with foil and grease. On the bottom pour a small amount of milk- just enough to slightly cover base.
2. Butter each bread slice, then spread the jam of your choice (raspberry's perfect). Fit into the base of the loaf tin.
3. Add in almonds, plums (abt.2 pcs. per layer) and chocolate. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and pour enough milk mixture to soak the bread pieces. Do the same layering until you have filled the tin. 
* fill to about 3/4 full, be as generous as you want, just don't over indulge with the plums :)
4. Bake at 180 deg. til it appears puffy. About 25-30 minutes I suppose.
5. Let it cool slightly (once it is cooked of course) and serve with clotted cream. 
Enjoy! my family wiped their plates to a sparkling clean, hahaha..   :)

Cook's Note:
It is important that you are generous with the milk mixture, so if it isn't enough, just top it up with plain milk.