June 08, 2008

Croissant Bread Pudding..


I started the guessing game and then got so caught up in other activities that I forgot to release the comments. I moderated it so no on could cheat. My better half who amuses himself reading the comments couldn't find any for the latest post and asked if I stopped the comments. That then reminded me that I still haven't published the rest of the post. Blogging has a way of making you talk to yourself. I could be driving or shopping and something would click ...bang..one part of my head would start formulating sentences for the next post.If only I could write in my mind and it would get translated to the computer...

As always the range of the guesses is amazing...let me see..who got it right?Bervin, Nabeela (hey, I need an invitation to your blog now), Indo, Afailingcook,Creating Humus, Ranji,Umm and Anon D. well, almost right, coz nobody guessed croissant bread pudding.:)
Seagull and Sajitha will understand why I like this recipe.. It does remind one of the famous "chattipathiri" a Malabar specialty dessert that has been my post drafts but not yet posted.

According ot the Joy OF Baking site which is a encyclopedia of baking recipes, "Bread Pudding is an old fashioned dessert that had humble beginnings in 13th century England. It was first known as a "poor man's pudding" as it was made from stale leftover bread that was just moistened in water, to which a little sugar, spices and other ingredients were added. Fast forward to today, and you will find that we still make our bread puddings with bread but the breads we use are often made especially for this pudding and the types are wide ranging; breads like brioche, challah, croissant, panettone, French, Italian and sometimes even raisin bread or scones."

Bread pudding is common in all cuisines in one local form or the other.
Malabaris have the Chattipathiri, which is rotis/chapathis/tortillas made of flour dipped in a mixture of egg, milk and sugar, layered with poppy seeds,eggs, butter,nuts and raisins and baked. Arabs have Umm Ali,made with layers of phyllo pastry and condensed milk...yum!! As for the story behind the unusual name.. Asha had regaled us with the story some time back.Then there is the Shahi Tukda which is fried bread soaked in a milk and sugar bath, probably a derivation of the Arab dessert.

Well, to cut my rambling short, this is one recipe that was enticing me ever since I saw Barefoot Contessa on Food TV carefully slicing old croissants and then gleefully dunking them in a rich bath of eggs and heavy cream and baking it. The 8+4 eggs and cream daunted me while the pudding haunted me till I saw 4 croissants still sitting on my counter top, too old to eaten as is though still good enough. So I searched for a lighter recipe. Guess what I found..a site dedicated to just Bread Puddings!
But this recipe from Joy Of Baking is what I finally used. I followed with only 2 variations..I like nuts so topped the whole thing with sliced almonds and since I used croissants instead of bread, I reduced the butter. You could add raisins too or even cranberries, dried fruit etc. So this is what I ended up with..a slice able cake like dessert, good cold with whipped cream or ice cream, or served warm as is.

4 large croissants or 6 small ones
4 cups whole milk or half and half(or 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/2 cup whole milk)
4 eggs beaten
3/4 cup of sugar (maybe a little more as per your taste)
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup raisins (optional)
2 tablespoons of melted butter, cooled

Preheat oven to 350F.
1. Brush the melted butter all over the baking dish. Cut croissants into halves along the length and place into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the croissants with the raisins and nuts. I opted out of the raisins as my family is not heavily into it.

2. Mix the egg yolks, sugar and butter together in a bowl. Then stir in the heavy cream or milk and vanilla essence.

3. Pour the custard over the croissants. Press down on the pieces until the croissants are soaked with the custard. Let the croissants rest for at least a couple of hours so that it is fully soaked. Pour the left over custard (if any) over the croissants and press down just before baking to make a more custard rich layer. Top the pudding with a layer of almond slices or any other nut that you prefer.

4. Place the baking dish pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Place both into the oven. 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. The water bath makes the custard moister and bakes it evenly.

5. Bake the pudding for about 45 minutes until golden on top. If you insert a knife into it, it should come out clean, similar to when you bake a cake. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm or refrigerate and later serve cold with whipped cream or ice cream..

49 comments:

FH said...

Almond cream pudding, cake, pie!:))

Anonymous said...

Whoa!Bread Pudding.
Bervin.

Finla said...

A cake :-)
Almonds , Apples etc????

Saritha said...

Almond cheese cake?

Anonymous said...

Is this the bread thing- sweet? Shahi tukda?

Nabeela said...

bread pudding?

Medhaa said...

almonds, flour, sugar, egg ..looks like baklava or a cake

lan said...

cheesecake?

Seena said...

No idea! :)So send me a piece to taste.. :)

Andhra Flavors said...

photo shows itself sweet.
I think it made with plain flour,butter... and almonds:)
whatever it is looks delicious.
...waiting for post.

Rachel said...

I see almonds....

indosungod said...

Bread pudding?

aflailingcook said...

double ka meeta?

aflailingcook said...

double ka meeta or bread pudding?

Srivalli said...

almond cake?...whatever it is ..looks very yummy..will check in later to find out abt it!..:)

Jayashree said...

Iam awful at guessing.....i do see almonds in there, though....

do bigha zameen said...

Bread Pudding ??

Unknown said...

Kinnathappam?

ranji said...

i am thinking the ingredients are almonds,egg,bread,milk.all together bread pudding?looks delcious..i really want to know what it is:)

Anonymous said...

A cake..Isn't it ? Perhaps a badam cake..the ingredients like butter,sugar,egg,flour,dryfruits/badam ? what you say ?
Oh,to introduce myself,Ann Moortje.A regular in your blog for so many days now.As a biginning I had "Rava payasam" which my girlie is demanding more..Your bolg is yummy and i missed a lot..Love

Umm Maryam said...

I enjoy these games : ). Hmmm... the light on my comp is too low and I am not able to fix it right now... I don't want to miss this game though! : ) Looks like some bread pudding to me... Shahi Tukre?

Bread? Cream?

Will try to make more guesses with a brighter screen : ).

Surely looks delicious anyway!

Anonymous said...

hmmm
1. bread pudding
2. soan papdi
3. badam halwa

- d

Anonymous said...

A quiche or custard tart with almonds? Looks yummy whatever it is! :)

Sia said...

lime or lemons???

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Cheese !!!

Mallika said...

Quiche or a walnut cake? Looks lovely either way...

SAJITHA said...

almond chattipathiri...filopastry?eggs?whatever it is it sure looks almondicious...

seagull said...

Chattipathiri!!!!

Anonymous said...

its soan paapdi

Medhaa said...

wow, this looks great, I was not even close to thinking it is bread pudding. Looks so delicious.

Anonymous said...

That looks totally decadent - can only imagine how it must taste. Would love a slice of that, like, right now.

Mamatha

Mishmash ! said...

can i get a slice pls? !the ingredients shows how tasty this could be.....hmm...too temting :)

TBC said...

There was a guessing game? I'm late.

I'm pretty sure I'd have guessed it as a croissant bread pudding.;-D
I can say that with confidence now.:)

Coffee said...

That looks OH SO DECADENT!!!! Loved it!

Unknown said...

What a great recipe.Sounds too good

Linda said...

"eggs and cream daunted -- pudding haunted..." -- serves you right Shaheen, for tempting us with that gorgeous concoction! :)

J said...

It does look royal...pl send me a slice:)

Madhu Taneja, Ameeta Atul & Ashima Taneja said...

I could not guess the dish :( .... it looks amazing .... really enjoy reading your blog.

Anonymous said...

sorry missed the game!!!
that too an easy and fav. one.
bread pudding is something i assosiate with my ammamma, as she used to make it for me quite often as my after school snack.
lov
ki

Shah cooks said...

Tbc, yeah, right, u would have guessed it correctly..lets see next time!!

SHN,I will trade this for a slice of ur black forest cake any day.:)

Medha, don't feel bad.. baklava is a distant cousin..got seperated in the kumbh mela..


Coffee, do try ..play around with the ingredients when u do.. would like to see ur twist on it.

Linda, i get obsessed with something and then i just have to make it.

jyo, one slice..sure anytime..drop in.

ki, u never told me that.. how did u ammamma make it? that must be interesting.. do u make it now?

Unknown said...

Looks delicious..

Medhaa said...

hehe Lost in Khumb Mela, now I feel better thank you

hi I have an award for you at my blog.

http://medhaa.blogspot.com/2008/06/some-awards-and-meme.html

Anonymous said...

hi,
her's is pretty simple.
tear the bread into pieces with hand, added milk, eggs, sugar ,essence, ghee. steam in pressure cooker!!!
no standing time reqd..less than
30mts, the whole process

Anonymous said...

cont...
i still follow her recipe, its very light..
or i add some condensed milk to make it richer..
ki

amna said...

thats one pretty pudding. good to be back to blogging :)

vandana rajesh said...

yummm pudding. can't wait to try it.

Miri said...

Yummy! I love bread pudding!! :)

Shah cooks said...

miri, vandana..yummy and pretty rich pudding!!

medha..thanks for the award.:)

ki, gotto try it ur way. anything so simple has to be a part of my cookbook.thanks to ammamma.. u don't add nuts?

maheshwari, so u are settled in with the baby and changes?

nags, honeymoon over? ;0

Kalai said...

Delicious bread pudding!! :)