Raspberry Croissant Bread Pudding

Also known as the best dessert I have ever made, so much so, that I actually made this twice in 2 days. My original plan for this dessert was to follow the recipe for raspberry bread pudding from SaraBeth's Bakery which involved making a pullman loaf and assembling these little puddings in entremet rings. However, I never did get around to buying the rings and as valentine's day rolled around I spent 2 days in the kitchen making raspberry truffles, heart shape truffle box cake, stawberry fudge and what seemed like an unbelievable amount of appetizers and my enthusiasm for making homemade bread went out the window. Just as I was about to pull the plug on the entire dessert, Randal suggested using the store bought croissants that we already had and some ramekins. The puddings wouldn't be perfectly tall and neat like SaraBeth's, but I figured I could make it work, and I am so glad that I did. I made just half of her Creme Anglaise recipe as we surely didn't need 16 egg yolks worth of custard! but I'll give the recipe for the full amount.


Creme Anglaise
3 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1 ½ cups sugar
Seeds from 2 plumped Vanilla Beans (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
16 large egg yolks

Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, and add the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans and add to the milk, then split the vanilla beans in half and add that to the milk also. Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and leave near the stove. Place a sieve over a second bowl placed in a larger bowl filled with ice.

Heat the cream mixture over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Slowly whisk half of the cream mixture into the yolks. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the crème anglaise is thick enough to coat the spatula. Pour through the sieve to remove the vanilla beans and any cooked egg pieces, leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 250.

I used croissants and not white bread like the original recipe, for half the custard mixture I used 4 croissants, which made 4 bread puddings. Tear the croissants into a large bowl and add 2 cups of the creme anglaise and leave to absorb for 20 minutes.

Lightly spray 4 ramekins with non-stick spray and put a layer of the croissant mixture into the ramekin, add 5 or 6 fresh raspberries to each pudding, a tablespoon or two of the creme anglaise and then fill the ramekins with the rest of the croissant mixture, finishing the puddings with two more tablespoons of the creme anglaise. Bake for 45 minutes.

Raspberry sauce
6oz fresh raspberries
1.5 tablespoons superfine sugar
Seeds from a 1/4 of a plumped vanilla bean

Combine the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, until the berries have given off some juices and they come to a boil. Transfer to a sieve set over a bowl. Using a spatula rub the berries and juices through the sieve.

When ready to assemble the puddings, put a layer of the creme anglaise into a bowl, add the raspberry bread pudding ontop and a few drops of the raspberry sauce.

Linked to  The Grocery Cart Challenge, Crazy For Crust, Eat At Home