improv cooking challenge

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

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a baking dish, and set on a sheet pan. Set aside dish.
2. Cut 1″ cubes out of the croissants. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. Combine the light cream, eggnog, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.
4. 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.
5. Add the cranberries to the liquid mixture.
6. Pour the mixture over the pieces of croissant. Gently mix to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes.
7. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the top with sugar and raw cranberries,
8. 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.
9. Let sit for 15 minutes prior to serving, serve warm.