Tsoureki bread-and-butter pudding with strawberries, vanilla and dried currants

Αβγοφέτες τσουρεκιού στο φούρνο με φράουλες, βανίλια και σταφίδες

Published originally on my blog on 18 April 2012

What I love about Greek tsoureki, besides it being the most delicious sweet bread there is, is all the things I can do with it.
The simplest thing to do is slather it with a decent, or better yet obscene amount of butter and my favorite jam, which is and will always be strawberry.

Make French toast, of course, where all you need to do is dip your stale tsoureki slices in a mix of eggs and milk, fry them in butter, pour honey all over them and finish them off with a good sprinkling of cinnamon.

And then there's this dish. The tsoureki bread and butter pudding; the ultimate option.
I have to be honest. This dessert is all very new to me. It's not typical in Greek cuisine and certainly not something my grandmother would make the day after Easter but, when I gave it a try, I just couldn't believe how incredible it was.

You take your stale tsoureki, still fragrant and full of promise, you slice it and arrange it on a well-buttered baking dish. You prepare a rich custard, eight egg yolks mind you, you pour it all over the tsoureki and you top the whole thing off with fresh strawberries, dried currants and demerara sugar.

I guarantee your mouth will water even before the dish is out of the oven. The intoxicating aromas of the vanilla, the strawberries and the mahlepi in the tsoureki will penetrate your nostrils and you'll be filled with anticipation for what you're about to taste. And once you do, you will certainly be amazed.

Amazed by the luscious texture and flavor of the tsoureki, the juiciness of the sweet strawberries, the soft and gooey bottom of the pudding and the beautifully crusty, caramelized top. You'll want to eat more than you can handle which is only natural but you'll have to control yourself. It's a rich dessert, I don't want you to regret it afterwards. Then again, well, we only live once, right?

Tsoureki Bread and Butter Pudding with Strawberries, Vanilla and Dried Currants

My Politiko tsoureki and my Tsoureki with grape molasses and tahini are ideal for bread and butter pudding simply because they age well. They retain their structure when they get stale and have a well-browned crust and robust crumb.
You can substitute of course with other types of sweet bread like brioche or challah.