Bailys Bread and Butter Pudding

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Flatten each slice of bread down as flat as possible. Butter each piece thinly but thoroughly with the softened butter, then cut the slices of bread in half and put to one side.

In a bowl whisk together the sugar, vanilla seeds and eggs till pale and fluffy, then add the cream, the milk and the Baileys and whisk until smooth. Slice up your peeled bananas and lightly toast your almonds in the preheated oven. Take an appropriately sized baking dish (or you could do individual ones) and rub the sides with a little butter. Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture then begin to layer the bread, the sliced banana and the almonds in the baking dish. Repeat until everything has been used up, ending with a top layer of bread. Pour over the rest of your egg mixture, using your fingers to pat down the bread to make sure it soaks up all the lovely flavours.

Generously dust the top of the pudding with icing sugar and bake in the oven for around 35 minutes or until the custard has set around the outside but is just slightly wobbly in the centre. Allow it to cool and firm up slightly. Some people like to serve it with ice cream or double cream, but if you get it gooey enough in the middle then it is nice just on its own. Feel free to take this recipe in any direction you like - using raisins or dried apricots or different types of bread like brioche or pannetone.