I will be the first person to tell you that I was not ever going to sign up with twitter. I ended up caving out because of this article and the rest is history. I love how twitter has put me in touch with such great blogs and people. Through twitter connections I have gotten to know Pam, and last month when I was on her blog I saw this post I learned about the Improv Cooking Challenge Group.
I could not pass up a fun group that prompts you monthly with 2 ingredients to develop a recipe from. Starting with December the 2 special ingredients are: Eggnog and Cranberries. I toyed around with this combo for a bit…. an eggnog flavored bread with a cranberry glaze, an ice cream, or even a pasta dish. I decided to go with a bread pudding with an eggnog base and the cranberries would be mixed throughout the bread pudding.
This worked out perfectly. The day I planned on making this, I went to the bakery and they had day old croissants so I picked them up instead of getting a day old loaf of bread. The croissants being lighter and sweeter than a baguette, had me reduce the amount of liquid and sugar I had originally planned on using, based upon bread puddings I had made in the past. The texture was softer than a typical bread pudding and enjoyed the difference. I feel you can’t ever go wrong with eggnog, so this was really a no brainer. The cranberries added a nice bit of tartness every now and then which was nice to break up the rich eggnog,
Eggnog and Cranberry Croissant Bread Pudding
*serves 5-6*
Ingredients
- 5 day old croissants
- 1 cup light cream
- 1 cup eggnog
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar, plus more for top of bread pudding
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup cranberries, plus more for top of bread pudding
- garnish: whipped cream or ice cream (of both!)
Process
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease a baking dish, and set on a sheet pan. Set aside dish.
- Cut 1″ cubes out of the croissants. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Combine the light cream, eggnog, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.
- Give the cranberries a rough chop. In a small skillet, heat the cranberries on low for 5 minutes, or until they start to get warm and softened.
- Add the cranberries to the liquid mixture.
- Pour the mixture over the pieces of croissant. Gently mix to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Pour the bread pudding mixture into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the top with sugar and raw cranberries,
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the bread pudding is golden brown and when you gently separate pieces in the center they are not excessively moist.
- Let sit for 15 minutes prior to serving, serve warm.
I’ve never thought to use croissants in bread pudding, but I bet it makes it so light and buttery! Great idea! And I totally felt the same way about Twitter (and Facebook quite frankly) and now I’m not sure how I managed without them. Just FYI, when I clicked on your Follow me on Twitter link it took me to someone else’s Twitter page – Yourlink Wed Design out of Chicago…
ahh! thanks about the twitter link thing!
How can this be bad?! Cranberries are usually too tart for me but with croissants and eggnog I bet they were perfect!
I made bread pudding as well this month with the ingredients…just seemed like a good combination.
I love that you used croissants…I will have to give that a go next time I make bread pudding.
Beautifully done! Croissants are SO good in bread pudding….Terrific entry for the Improv Challenge!
Great use of the ingredients. I love bread pudding, and I think you have a big winner here. Great pics also!
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of bread pudding.. but your croissant bread pudding has changed my mind! What a great idea!
I am so glad you joined us! Bread pudding is so good made from croissants. What serendipity that you found them!
Fabulous!!! I’ve always wanted to make a croissant bread pudding…and yours looks amazing! Great pick for the challenge~
I haven’t ever tried to make a bread pudding but this one looks really tasty. I will have to give it a try. Thanks for posting.