This week’s Barefoot Bloggers pick comes courtesy of Peggy at Pantry Revisited. I’m a fan of croissants and I love bread pudding so this seemed like a great pick.
This is a quick and easy recipe. Some might see this as dessert, but for me it just screamed breakfast! I mean, it’s kind of like French toast, right? I made a few changes to this recipe right off the bat. First of all I cannot STAND raisins. Ever since I was little they reminded me of little cockroaches. To this day roaches freak me out. True story. I thought about subbing in dried cranberries but decided to pass. There also seemed to be a TON of sugar so I reduced it by about 1/4 cup … give or take.
The results were pretty good. The top of the pudding was a bit crunchy, not in a bad way but I thought the liquid would have really seeped through. The inside was a gooey, buttery delight. It was totally creamy and delicious. I did find it a tad sweet but I’m a bit sensitive to sweetness.
I think this recipe could easily be jazzed up to make it different each time. Use different dried fruit, maybe even some stewed apples could be lovely. Nuts would also make a fine addition. You could also experiment with different spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves etc.
The photo above is of the final gooey mess. Do not it was fully cooked at this point but super gooey. Yum!
Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients
3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 croissants, preferably stale, sliced horizontally
1 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.
Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn’t touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
(1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All rights reserved)
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What a great blog. I just did a giveaway where this recipe is in the cookbook. Check it out.