(Boozy) Paddington Pudding

Paddington Bear may hail from deepest darkest Peru but he's a British national treasure.

The new controversially-rated film, Paddington, (the BBFC bizarrely recently classified it as a PG...) featuring a selection of British acting royalty and Ben Whishaw as the voice of the famous bear is released in UK cinemas today. Given the fact that I sadly don't have time to watch it on the opening weekend, I thought I'd do a spot of Paddington-themed baking instead and put a trip to the cinema at the top of my to-do list for next week.

Everyone knows Paddington loves marmalade almost as much as Pooh loves honey, and it's the time of year when there's nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a bowl of steaming hot pudding. It therefore seemed like a bit of a no brainer to play around with good old-fashioned bread and butter pudding and give it a cheeky Paddington twist.

I managed to unearth a jar of Seville orange marmalade from the back of a cupboard and found this recipe for a Marmalade & Whisky Bread & Butter Pudding on the BBC Good Food website. Paddington has been so well received thus far that critics are raving about it, and the general consensus is that grown ups will love it as much as children - hence why I've tried out a recipe that has the option to include whisky, turning a childhood favourite into a truly grown-up dessert if so desired.

(Chocolate) Bread and Butter Pudding

For me, a mention of Bread and Butter Pudding evokes memories of snuggling up with a blanket and a film in the middle of winter and tucking into a steaming bowl of the pudding with lashings of double cream. It’s an iconic comforting winter treat, and given the unpredictable British weather – snow in March?! – I think it’d be the perfect dessert to make this week. I found this recipe from Gary Rhodes months ago here, and made it for my flatmates at uni. However, as none of them were really fans of fruit in a pudding, I omitted the traditional sultanas/raisins and instead added dark chocolate. From their gushing compliments I’d say it was a success, although personally I’d prefer to leave it unchanged and as my mum used to make it with the fruit! If you do have Easter eggs left over after the weekend (it’s a long shot but worth asking…) then you could always put them to good use and make your own variation of the recipe below. Waste not, want not!