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Years ago - last century anyway - I used to work in Hatton Garden and very much enjoyed a superb bread puding produced by the Jewish baker Grodzinski in Leather Lane - Dark, spicy, fruity and above all light - not the solid greasy slab most recipes produce. Does anyone have an idea how to recreate this miracle of sustenance? Yeast? Baking powder? Egg whites? Certainly I suspect some of their leftover cakes went into it - I remember glacé cherries. Must stop now - I feel hungry!

Next nostalgia item - steak and kidney pudding as served at the "Old Doctor Butler's Head" pub in London - a glorious wedge cut from a 4pt basinful; then the beancounters got there and substituted individual portions in twee little dishes - absolute travesty; their male clientele dropped away!

Those were the days - wonder why I have a little bit of a stomach nowadays....

RayS

A lot of Jewish bread puddings start with leftover challah bread.  I'm not sure what would have made the pudding you liked dark.  Perhaps a bit of treacle?  

New Orleans is the world capital of bread pudding -- it's the quintessential local dessert.  It's made in all kinds of styles, from heavy to fluffy.  You might want to look at recipes from there to get some ideas for replicating the texture of the bread pudding you're craving.  And you'll get lots of other bread pudding ideas, while you're at it!

Thanks robm - New Orleans - traditional jazz and Bread Pudding - paradise!

RayS

Thanks to you too dekellie - just downloaded the suggested recipe - I have feeling too many English recipes reduce the bread element to a soggy mass leading to the heaviness. I'm going to do some playing around!

RayS