Let's talk about puddings. Hands up if you love a good old fashioned pudding. Now I'm not talking about the ones you had when you were in school, lets face it for those who remember them, they were not the nicest of things.
However when I saw lots of croissants in our Fareshare delivery I wondered if they could become something more than a breakfast item. So a bit like Stars in their Eye's (now who remembers that show?), those lovely croissants became an even nicer pudding.
Now when it comes to puddings, it's a bit more science than a throw together kind of thing, so it is one of the recipes I have to look up. Many chiefs make a great bread and butter pudding, so off to Google I went to see what I could find. And do you know, someone got there before me and had the perfect recipe (not that I should complain, it helped me out a lot). I do however have to add that I did tweak one part of the recipe, so perhaps I did "help" to make a new recipe after all??
Once you try this pudding, you will never look back and every day will be a pudding day - gosh I can't wait for more croissants just to try it out again.
Ingredients:
- 70g of soft butter for greasing
- 6/8 croissants cut into large pieces
- 50g of raisins (or in my case I didn't have raisins, so replaced this with chocolate chips)
- 300ml of double cream
- 300ml milk
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon (I left this out as not everyone in my family like cinnamon)
- 70g of caster sugar
Method:
1. Butter an ovenproof dish that measures about 20 x 30cm (8 x 12 inches).
2. Put the croissant chunks in a single layer, but slightly overlapping, in the bottom of the dish. Scatter over some of the raisins/chocolate chips, place another layer of croissant chunks on top and scatter over the remaining raisins/chocolate chips. Press down gently.
3. To make the custard, heat the cream and milk in a saucepan until the mixture comes almost to the boil. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, ground cinnamon and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the mixture is thickened and the whisk or beaters leave a trail when lifted. Remove from the heat and beat in the cream mixture until well combined.
4. Pour two-thirds of the custard over the croissants and leave to stand for about 30 minutes or until they have soaked up all the liquid. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
5. Pour the remaining custard over the soaked croissants and press down firmly with a fish slice or spatula so that the custard reaches halfway up the croissants. Place the dish in a roasting pan and pour in enough water to come a third of the way up the side of the dish. Bake for 30–35 minutes until the custard is just set and the top is golden brown. Enjoy.