Caramelised figgy bread & butter pudding

Liven up bread and butter pudding by adding sticky figs and pecans, drizzled with caramel sauce. It’s a delicious way to use up stale bread

350g white baguette
50g salted butter, very soft
250g ripe figs, thickly sliced
50g pecans, very roughly chopped
2 tbsp marsala or sweet sherry
300ml full-fat milk
300ml pot double cream
3 large eggs
4 tbsp light soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
good grating of nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp caramel sauce from a squeezy tube, can or jar, plus a little extra to serve (optional)
golden icing sugar, for dusting
single cream, vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche, to serve

The night before you want to make the pudding, thickly slice the baguette and leave it out to go stale.
The next day, butter the bread and arrange in a big baking dish with the figs and pecans. Whisk together the Marsala or Sherry, milk, cream, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour all over the bread and leave to soak for 30 mins. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
Just before you pop it in the oven, drizzle with the caramel sauce, then dust all over with a good layer of golden icing sugar. Bake for 50 mins until puffed and looking sticky and caramelised. Drizzle with a little more caramel sauce, if you like, dust with a little more golden icing sugar if it needs it, and serve hot or warm with cream, ice cream or crème fraîche.