Queen of puddings

Preheat oven to 180C. Butter the pudding moulds.

Place breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Heat milk, cream, zest and butter until butter has melted. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar and brandy or sherry. Whisk hot milk/cream mix into egg yolk mix and pour over the breadcrumbs, stirring well. Allow to stand and swell for 30 minutes.

Ladle into the buttered dishes and set them in a deep baking dish. Set the baking dish on the pulled-out centre rack of the oven and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the pudding dishes. Bake for 20 minutes until firm in the centre. (If making a large pudding, expect it to bake for about 35 minutes). Remove carefully and lift basins out of water and on to a baking slide. Allow to cool for a few minutes while you gently warm the jam. Spoon jam evenly over each pudding.

To make the meringue: Whisk whites until stiff and then beat in the sugar in 2 lots. Spoon or pipe the meringue on the puddings, flicking up bits to look fancy. Return puddings to the oven for a further 10 minutes to brown the meringue. Serve with thick cream.

Variation: One could be even fancier and spread a layer of lemon curd and then a layer of jam.