British bread puddings are a family of desserts that go back as far as the 17th century and are popular in the U.S. Bread pudding is a handy way to use up stale bread. Either bread crumbs or stale bread cubes are soaked in an egg custard mixture of milk or cream, eggs and sugar -- plus vanilla or other spices like cinnamon and nutmeg -- then baked. Bread pudding can be eaten hot or cold, plain or made even more rich with a sauce like crème anglaise.

Bread pudding can be complicated with chocolate, nuts, dried fruits or other flavorings and can be made with sweet breads such as brioche. The homey traditional British baked dessert Queen of Puddings is made from a breadcrumb-thickened egg custard that is baked until set, then topped with raspberry or black currant jam and covered in meringue. It is returned to the oven to color the meringue and served hot, with lots of double cream.

Bread and butter pudding is another matter, a kind of baked French toast in which buttered bread is layered with raisins or other fruits, covered in a milk and egg mixture and baked.