Nigella's Ginger Bread and Butter Pudding

This recipe is adapted from Nigella's recipe. I love ginger, so I always find new ways of adding a little bit more to my dishes. For this one I added some crystallized ginger to the brown sugar topping. Delicious!

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon to grease the baking dish, and 5 tablespoons to spread in the sandwiches)
1/3 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons dark rum
8-10 slices brown bread (with crusts)
10 tablespoons ginger preserves
3 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped finely

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a shallow (1 1/2-quarts capacity) baking dish with a little butter.

Soak the raisins in the rum in a small bowl for a few minutes, then microwave for about 1 minute. This technique really helps the raisins soak up the rum.

Make the sandwiches by buttering the bread and spreading about 2 tablespoons of ginger jam between the bread slices. Cut the sandwiches diagonally and arrange them in the dish. I put 1 in the dish with the point-side uppermost and so on, then squeeze a sandwich-triangle down each side - but you do as you please. Sprinkle with the raisins and left over rum that remains in the bowl.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together, then add the cream and milk. Gently pour this custard mixture over the bread, and dot the top with the remaining butter. Mix the ground ginger, brown sugar and crystallized ginger together and sprinkle on top of the pudding. Leave for about 10 minutes before putting the dish into the oven.

Cook for about 45 minutes or until the custard has set. Serve with Bird's custard!