A Bread Pudding and an Old Friend

First whole day back home and I just wanted to use my kitchen, to be able to make whatever I felt like eating. That meant omelets for my family in the morning and this special dessert in the afternoon. This post is all about my White Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding, with detailed photo instructions, taken by my old friend the Canon DSLR!

White Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

Hey, old friend!

So, I was curious about the history of bread pudding so… I googled it. According to the Reluctant Gourmet, the bread pudding was born in the 13th century. It was considered a “poor man’s pudding” because it made use of stale bread. Traditionally, the bread was soaked in milk or water, then sugar, butter, fruit, and/or spices. I absolutely love the idea of using simple and humble ingredients to make some of the best tasting foods ever!

This recipe elevates a humble bread pudding into a sophisticated dessert that still brings you comfort and warmth much like a family dinner during Christmas time. Using croissant instead of stale bread for buttery layered goodness, adding in vanilla bean paste and white chocolate for a lighter creamy custard flavour… Bake it in individual ramekins for classy presentation, and most importantly to set a limit for how much you get to eat!

So get your pen and paper (or ctrl-c and ctrl-v) ready to take some notes!

This recipe makes 4 individual ramekins

WHITE CHOCOLATE CROISSANT BREAD PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs
1/3 cup fine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
300ml thickened cream
200ml whole milk
5 croissants
37.5g white chocolate, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven at 160 degrees Celsius (or 320 degrees Fahrenheit). Line the bottom of the ramekins with baking sheet circles to prevent the pudding from sticking to the bottom.

Lining ramekins

2. Half the croissants, line them on a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or till crisp and golden.

Croissant halves in the oven

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, cream and milk. Continue whisking till well blended.

A lovely teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

4. Cut up croissants into 3 cm chunks. Take half of the croissant chunks to cover the base of the ramekins evenly, sprinkle the white chocolate chunks, and pour half of the custard mixture. Allow the croissants to soak up the mixture.

First layer of custard-soaked croissants and white chocolate chunks

5. Add the remaining croissants and custard. Press down gently to make sure that all the croissants chunks are soaked.

6. Now you have to prepare a water-bath (It prevents the temperature in the oven from getting too hot, which could burn the top of the pudding): Place the ramekins onto a baking tin, then fill the baking tin with boiling water till halfway up the ramekins. Carefully put the baking tin into the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the custard has set.

Puddings in ramekins in water bath

7. To serve, turn the puddings over onto a serving dish. Best eaten warm!

Yummy gooey in the tummy

Tip: If you don’t have ramekins, you could also make this bread pudding in a baking dish, just bake it longer for about 50 minutes, or until the custard sets.

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