What do you get when you combine the wonderful world of hot cross buns, bread and butter pudding and chai tea? Oh only the world’s best pudding!   

Now, who said hot cross buns were just for Easter?! Not us! We thought we’d share one of our favourite recipes from the book of tea – a chai spiced hot cross bun bread and butter pudding. What’s wonderful about this simple recipe is that you can make them single-serve in an oven-safe mug, and we are all about that mug cake life.

SERVES 6

  • 300ml (10fl oz) milk
  • 300ml (10fl oz) single cream
  • 2 tbsp teapigs chai whole leaf tea (or 2 tea temples) 
  • 2 eggs
  • 75g (2¾oz) golden caster sugar
  • 6 hot cross buns
  • 50g (1¾oz) butter, softened 

method

  1. Pour the milk and cream into a pan and sprinkle in the chai. Bring to just below the boil, remove from the heat and then leave to steep for 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar in a bowl and strain the tea-infused cream mixture through a sieve (to remove the tea leaves) and onto the eggs and sugar, whiskig all the time. You now have a custard; it will thicken up as it bakes.
  3. Cut each hot cross bun horizontally into 3 equally sized slices and butter 1 side of each piece. Place the bottom third of each bun into the bases of six 200ml (7fl oz) ramekins, mugs or even large tea cups.
  4. Pour a little of the custard into each ramekin or cup, then add the middle section of the buns. Add more of the custard to each until it is all used up, then top with the last slices of the buns, with the cross uppermost. Press slightly but don’t submerge the tops. Set aside for 30 minutes to soak. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  5. Arrange the ramekins or cups in a roasting tin, place in the oven and carefully fill the tin with boiling water until it comes halfway up the cups. Bake for about 20 minutes or until just cooked, but a bit wobbly in the centre. Serve warm but not hot.

This is the ultimate comfort recipe, and has quickly become a firm favourite for cake Friday (that's definitely a thing) - if you give our chai spiced hot cross bread & butter pudding a try, we'd love to see! Tag your creations with @teapigs and we'll always share our favourites! 

Fancy trying some more creative tea baking recipes? Check out a few of our favourites below: 

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