Are you looking for simple, no-fuss, wholesome desserts that will delight your family and woo your guests? Then I suggest you try these two quick and easy baked puddings: Nana’s Impossible Pie and Bread and Butter Pudding with Blueberries. You’ll find my recipes at the end of this post.

These two baked puddings are two of my favourite desserts.

Here are the reasons why.

Both puddings are quick and easy to prepare. No special skills or experience are needed. Their ingredients are inexpensive and readily available. The recipes are versatile – you can be creative, exchanging or omitting certain ingredients with success. Cooking time is relatively short, another plus. The puddings are wholesome and filling, attractive and delicious. Finally, they are equally enjoyable served either warm or cold.

What you need to make these puddings:

• A convection oven (electric or gas)
• A large shallow oven-proof dish (pyrex, ceramic, enamel)
• Mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, knives, bread board, whisk or hand beater
• Everyday ingredients (milk, eggs, butter, jam, sugar, flour, bread, coconut)
• Spice (nutmeg), flavouring (vanilla extract) and a punnet of blueberries.

The two puddings are cooked by baking in a convection oven. For each one, the prepared mixture is placed in a large shallow oven-proof dish, which may be round, square or rectangular. Nana’s Impossible Pie takes a little longer to cook than Bread and Butter Pudding (45-50 minutes compared with 35-40 minutes). The puddings will be ready when the top is a light golden brown. Both require a moderate oven temperature.

I’ve been making these two puddings for more than 30 years.

I made my first Bread and Butter Pudding in the mid-1970s and Nana’s Impossible Pie for the first time in the late 1980s. These puddings are not new. The basic recipes are not new. In fact, in preparing this post, I decided to investigate the origin and history of these puddings. Where did they come from? When? You may be surprised to learn that one has a long history, the other comparatively short.

The origin of Bread and Butter Pudding

Puddings (both sweet and savoury) have been enjoyed by people since ancient times. Bread pudding, in particular, has been made by home cooks in the western world (where bread is a staple food) for centuries. Food historians tell us that the sweet bread pudding was devised by frugal cooks who didn’t want to waste stale bread.

Initially, the sweet bread pudding was very basic. It combined bread, milk and a sweetener. The bread was soaked in milk, a sweetener added, then the mixture was baked in an oven. Addition of fat, preferably butter, and dried fruit, such as currants, came later. This enhanced version of bread pudding became known as Bread and Butter Pudding. It combined bread, milk, sweetener, butter and dried fruit. Any kind of bread, whether sliced or in the form of breadcrumbs, was used.

Bread and Butter Pudding as we know it today originated in Britain in the 17^th or 18^th century. It combines buttered bread, a mixture of milk and eggs, sweetener and dried or fresh fruit (optional), with the resulting mixture baked in the oven. Essentially it’s a baked custard with the addition of bread.

I made my first Bread and Butter Pudding in the mid-1970s.

As a newlywed, and an inexperienced home cook, I found a recipe for a Bread and Butter Pudding under the heading “Milk Puddings” in a cookery book compiled by The Country Women’s Association of NSW. It looked easy to make so I tried it. It worked! As a result, I’ve used this recipe – and variations of it – ever since.

The Impossible Pie story

Compared with bread puddings, which have a long culinary history, the Impossible Pie is a relatively recent invention. It originated in the United States of America (USA) in the second half of the 20^th century. The exact date is not known. According to the Food Timeline, the first recipe for an Impossible Pie was published in the USA in 1968. Like the early puddings, an Impossible Pie may be sweet or savoury.

Why is it called an “impossible” pie?

It’s because the ingredients used in making an Impossible Pie, when mixed and poured into a pie dish, miraculously settle during baking into a pie formation: crust and filling. This is the mystery of the Impossible Pie.

The Impossible Pie was popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by two American food manufacturing companies, General Mills (home of Betty Crocker products and Bisquick) and General Foods (now Kraft). It began with General Mills providing recipes for various versions of Impossible Pie on its Bisquick packaging. Bisquick is an all-purpose baking mix invented in 1930 by the General Mills corporation. One cup of Bisquick is equivalent to a mixture of 1 cup of plain flour, 1½ teaspoons of baking powder, ​½ teaspoon of salt and ​2½ tablespoons of oil or melted butter.

In 1976 General Foods adapted the basic formula of the Bisquick Impossible Pie to produce its Amazing Coconut Pie. It was a sweet pie, with coconut and raisins two of its ingredients. This version of the Impossible Pie soon became very popular among home cooks in the USA.

I’m not sure when the Impossible Pie was introduced to Australian home cooks. The recipe isn’t in any of my 1980s or 1990s cookery books. The first time I made an Impossible Pie was in the late 1980s, after my next-door neighbour shared her recipe for Nana’s Impossible Pie with me.

Nana’s Impossible Pie, like Bread and Butter Pudding, is a custard-based baked pudding. The main difference, however, is that during the baking of Nana’s Impossible Pie the ingredients separate to form its three distinct layers: soft pastry base, luscious custard centre and crunchy coconut top. It really is quite amazing! From the first time I made this wonderful dessert, I was won over. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve made it since then. 

NANA’S IMPOSSIBLE PIE

Serves 6

Ingredients

½ cup plain flour
1 cup coconut
¾ cup caster sugar
125 g butter (melted)
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: Pulp of 1-2 passionfruit

Method

1. Place all ingredients into a large bowl and beat well.
2. Pour mixture into a well-greased large shallow dish.
3. Bake for 40-45 minutes in a moderate oven (180 degrees Celcius or 160 degrees Celcius fan-forced) or until the top is golden.
4. Serve warm or cold with fruit and/or a scoop of icecream.

Source: Mrs Rae Wylie, my next-door neighbour, late 1980s.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING WITH BLUEBERRIES

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 slices of grain or wholemeal bread
butter (for spreading on the bread)
red jam (such as plum or strawberry)
3 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups milk

1 punnet (200g) fresh blueberries

For sprinkling on top
ground nutmeg
desiccated coconut

Method

1. Spread butter on three slices of bread and jam on the other three.
2. Depending on the shape of your baking dish, cut the bread into triangles, squares or rectangles. For my circular dish, I used triangles.
3. Arrange a layer of the buttered bread butter-side down in the bottom of the baking dish. Drop a handful of blueberries on top of the bread. Repeat using bread spread with jam and more blueberries. Depending on the size of your dish, you will probably need a third layer of bread and blueberries.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk to a bowl and beat until well mixed.
5. Pour the egg mixture gently over the layers of bread, making sure all the bread is covered. Gently press the bread into the liquid so it is absorbed.
6. Sprinkle a little ground nutmeg and desiccated coconut on top.
7. Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees Celcius or 160 degrees Celcius if using a fan-forced oven) for 35-40 minutes. The pudding will be ready when the top is lightly browned and the mixture has risen.
8. Set the pudding aside to cool a little before serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla icecream. This pudding is delicious served while it is warm. However, it can be stored in the refrigerator and served the next day and it will still be delicious.

Source: “The Coronation Cookery Book” compiled by The Country Women’s Association of New South Wales, 10^th Edition – Revised, 1970. Adapted by Judy Salecich.

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