I was given an apricot leavened cake, or Panettone, from the Campania region of Italy for my birthday; it’s a kind of sweet bread made with candied fruits popular at Christmas and New Year. Although it’s delicious on its own, my daughter passed on a recipe she liked from the Table Manners podcasters to make an upmarket bread and butter-style pudding out of it. You can use croissants in this way too. I pimped mine up with a little Gran Marnier in the custard mix and glazed it with apricot jam once it was cooked to make it extra-special but OMG was it fab!

Serves 8

• A panettone c750g – I used an apricot Gentile Leavened Cake
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 450ml milk
• 450ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• A grating of nutmeg
• 25g unsalted butter
• 20g apricot jam to glaze
• Optional: 30ml Gran Marnier

To make…

• Butter a large baking dish (1.5 to 2 litre capacity). Tear the panettone into rough chunks and fill the baking dish evenly.
• Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, Gran Marnier, nutmeg and vanilla and pour it over the panettone, covering it completely. Leave to stand for an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Dot the surface of the panettone with the butter. Place the baking dish in a roasting tin and pour in about 3cm of just boiled water. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and the custard just set.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes and brush with apricot glaze.
• Serve with pouring cream.

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