In a large bowl tear up 400g of white bread (I used the crusts as well but you can remove them if you like) and add 600ml milk and allow to soak for 10 mins. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, mash it all up to combine. Stir in 450g dried fruit (I used raisins and currants) and 100g sugar.
Then add 50g Self Raising flour and one & a half tbsp of mixed spice. Finally add 2 beaten eggs and 100ml of melted butter. Pour into a rectangular or square baking tin approx 20cm x 25 cm and bake for one and a half hours at 150 deg C. Turn up the heat to 180 and cook for another 10 mins or so until pudding browns. Excellent warm with custard or eaten cold.
It’s the sort of pudding that makes you feel you should be doing a long hike or a strenuous bike ride but after a miserable grey day like today when the damp fog hasn’t really lifted and the lights have been on all day indoors I think it’s a perfectly acceptable pudding for when sitting on your backside in front of a sewing machine all day… don’t you?
