This is the pudding to end all puddings; a version of bread and butter pudding that even avowed haters will love. Baked with banana and slathered in a buttery, rich, toffee-flavoured sauce, it’s easy to make and totally delish to eat. And we say this every single time we break out the bread but DO NOT use supermarket white here as it has no soul, no structure and no overall right to exist. It bakes to a kind of slimy mush with a distinct additive whiff and if you don’t believe us, go right ahead and find out the hard way.

TBH this pudding would suit us better for breakfast; it needs a growling stomach, a litre of black coffee and gazillions of zombie squats afterwards to fully slide down properly. Eaten after dinner it gives those anaconda-just-swallowed-a-cow-whole feels, where you pass out on the couch while your digestive system figures how to properly handle what just dropped on it. You have been warned.

SERVES 6

butter, for greasing

6 slices day-old bread (about 250g), crusts removed

400ml milk

100ml pouring cream

4 large eggs, beaten well

55g (¼ cup) caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 large firm ripe bananas, sliced

vanilla ice cream, to serve

Topping

90g unsalted butter, chopped

100g (½ cup, light packed) brown sugar

175g (½ cup) golden syrup

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Lightly grease the base and sides of a 22 x 16 x 4cm baking dish with butter. Cut the bread into 5cm pieces.

Arrange half the bread over the base of the dish in a tight fitting layer. Scatter over half the banana, then top with the remaining bread. Scatter over the remaining banana. Whisk together the milk and egg then carefully pour the mixture over the bread. Stand for 10 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the custard, then scatter the remaining banana over the top.

Meanwhile, for the topping, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium, then cook for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and starting to caramelise. Spoon about two thirds of the mixture over the pudding, then bake for 40 minutes or until deep golden and set in the middle. Cool slightly then drizzle over the remaining topping, heating it gently to loosen it if necessary. Serve with vanilla ice cream.