Name: Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 stale croissants; 100 grams caster or superfine sugar; 2 tablespoons water; 125 ml double or heavy cream; 125 ml whole milk; 2 tablespoons spiced rum; 2 eggs

Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding

May 28, 2019May 27, 2019 Renee Leave a comment

We’re just wrapping up a glorious and much needed week off from work. We even managed to get away to Berlin for a few days, and it was great. I had never been to Germany before, and it was pretty impressive. I can’t wait to see more.

Of course, the weather has been terrible since we came back to Glasgow. Lucky for us, we’re quite content to snuggle up at home. Geoff plays video games. I watch TV and cook totally random things. I have discovered a new very old school English dessert that I think you’ll love. Hopefully I’ll be able to share it with you soon.

What I’ve made for you today comes, of course, from my kitchen idol, Nigella Lawson. This Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding is a simple and classy way to use up leftover croissants, but if you want to buy a two pack a couple days ahead of time just for this, it would be totally worth it.

This recipe is so simple that you could have friends over on a weeknight and present this as dessert. It’s sexy but also homey. They flaky croissants give you a gloriously burnished crispy top, but the underside is perfectly squidgy and indulgent. It’s not overly sweet, either. If you wanted to take it over the top, a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream would be a terrific idea.

I made this in two smaller dishes, but you could easily do it all in one larger dish. The next size up I had available was just a bit too big, so I went for this option. The first time I made these, we each ate one whole dish, and greedy as we are, it was a bit much. We split them the next time around, and that was more acceptable, but I was left wanting a few more bites. You do what makes you happy.

Make this Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding for you and a few people you really like. It can only make things better.

Recipe slightly adapted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson.

Hawaiian Bread Pudding

July 29, 2018July 28, 2018 Renee Leave a comment

Hawaiian Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

The rain is back. Summer might be over in Glasgow. It’s by far been the longest summer we’ve had since moving here, so I’m not complaining.

My favorite thing abut Scottish summer is that it never really gets that hot, so you can actually go outside and enjoy the sunshine instead of hiding away in the air conditioning like some sort of weird vampire. I also love the abundance wildflowers. Life cannot be held back in this city. Pretty little blooms are everywhere, brightening up even the grimmest of side streets and alleyways.

Hawaiian Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

Now that we can turn the oven back on, we can get back to baking. But it’s still July, so maybe we don’t want to give up on summer flavors just yet. Enter Hawaiian Bread Pudding. Custard soaked bread is piled high with pineapple and macadamia nuts then drizzled with a coconut rum creme anglaise for a truly tropical flavor.

Bread pudding is a great dessert for beginning bakers. It’s pretty hard to screw up, and it’s very versatile. You can change up the flavors and add ins without much concern because there’s no leavening to worry about. It’s also a great way to use up leftover bread. Stale bread, eggs, and milk doesn’t sound that delicious, but the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Hawaiian Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

Hawaiian Bread Pudding might not be much of a stunner on the plate, but it’s certainly delicious, and as far as I’m concerned that’s all that matters.

Hawaiian Bread Pudding

2018-07-28 02:23:35

Serves 6

Hawaiian Bread Pudding is a simple dessert with a distinctly tropical feel.

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

For the bread pudding

250 grams stale Hawaiian bread or brioche, cut into cubes
1 small can pineapple chunks
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
3 eggs
40 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
2 tablespoons coconut rum
125 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
500 ml (1 cup) whole milk

For the coconut rum creme anglaise

1-1/2 cups heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut rum

For the bread pudding

Preheat oven to 350F or 175C. Lightly butter a 2 quart casserole or a nine inch pie pan.
Add your dry bread to the pan. If it's not quite stale, you can leave it out on a wire rack for a while.
Add the pineapple and macadamia nuts. Try and evenly disperse them around the pan. No need to stir, just let everything settle.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, rum, cream and milk. Pour this over your bread mixture and press the bread down into it to make sure everything is good and squidgy.
Let the bread soak for 20 minutes before putting it in the oven.
Bake for 40 minutes or until everything is puffy, lightly brown, and set.
Let rest until it is just warm.

For the coconut rum creme anglaise

While your bread pudding is soaking or baking, make your creme anglaise.
Add the cream, egg yolks, and powdered sugar to a small sauce pan over medium heat.
Stir constantly for about 8-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. It will coat the back of a wooden spoon when it's ready. Do not boil.
Stir in the rum until everything is smooth.
Pour it through a sieve into a container, then chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Drizzle your cold sauce over your warm bread pudding and enjoy.

Adapted from How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

How to be Awesome on $20 a day https://awesomeon20.com/

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding

March 4, 2016August 2, 2016 Renee Leave a comment

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding is almost too much awesome to be real. I mean, just look at all that chocolate. Sometimes my laziness pays off. I was meant to grate the chocolate so that it mixed in more smoothly, but I just chopped it because I didn’t have an hour to stand around grating chocolate.

That thick topping of warm chocolate chunks on the top paired with the flavor and aroma of the coffee liqueur throughout the squishy on the inside crunchy on the outside custard-soaked bread is just so wonderful you can hardly believe it’s real.

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

You definitely need to eat this warm to truly appreciate it’s perfection, but I can assure you that microwaving any leftovers does the trick.

Not only is it good to be lazy, I’m also firmly believe it’s awesome to be cheap. Kahlua is truly awesome, but if you can find a cheaper version, by all means, save your pennies. I did, and my bread pudding turned out great.

This recipe has more texture than the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding I shared recently. Use a good crusty bread. The bits that stick up from the top will be delightfully crunchy shifting into chewy and then into full on squishy as you move to the bottom. It’s good all the way down.

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

I’m done preaching abut the awesomeness of bread pudding. Just make it. Especially this Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding. I know what I’m talking about.

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding

2016-03-03 11:03:50

Serves 10

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding is almost too awesome to be true!

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1 loaf crusty French bread
3 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coffee liqueur
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 eggs
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions

Butter a 13X9 inch baking pan or large casserole dish.
Tear your loaf of bread into large chunks and add the pieces to your baking dish. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and coffee liqueur.
In another mixing bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. Add the sugar mixture t the milk mixture and whisk to combine.
You can now use the bowl you mixed your sugars and cocoa in to whisk together the vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon and eggs. Add this to your milk and sugar mixture and whisk gently to combine.
Stir your chopped chocolate into your milk mixture. If you chopped it, it will just mostly sink to the bottom. It's fine.
Pour your chocolaty milk and eggs over your torn bread. You might want to spread the chocolate chunks about a bit if they all clump up in one place on the top. Press the bread down to submerge it in the liquid as much as possible. Allow this to soak for about 20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Bake your bread pudding for 1 hour. You can check if it's done by sliding a knife into the center. If it comes out clean, it's ready.
Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream if you like.

Adapted from Paula Dean

How to be Awesome on $20 a day https://awesomeon20.com/

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

December 18, 2015August 2, 2016 Renee 1 Comment

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

I just had another birthday. Ugh. The worst. I feel weird about getting older. I want people to notice and not notice me at the same time. I want to celebrate and cry all at once. I’m too neurotic for birthdays. Can we just skip them but still somehow be worshiped for a minute once a year? I don’t know. I’m just weird I guess.

One good thing about having a new job in a new city is that nobody that I come in contact with on a daily basis, other than my husband of course, knew it was my birthday, so there was no singing where people awkwardly look at me while I blush and try to hide. It was amazing.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

It’s definitely the holidays, at least according to the heaps of treats everywhere I go. Now is exactly the time to be as indulgent as you want. You’ll never have a better excuse. So you can’t give me one good reason why you shouldn’t be making Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding right now. Seriously. Buttery croissants soaked in cream and eggs and cooked until golden brown and puffy. Plus chocolate! You guys. It’s ridiculous.

And just in case you were wanting to make your life extra awesome, you’ll want to consider topping your warm bread pudding with a splash of Bailey’s. Or a scoop of ice cream. Or both. #yolo

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

It’s okay to celebrate, and it’s awesome to celebrate with Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. Let’s do it.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

2015-12-18 11:07:35

Serves 8

Fluffy, chocolaty, buttery, and rich, Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding is so much amazingness.

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

45 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

45 min

Ingredients

6 croissants, preferably a bit stale
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
6 egg
1 cup sugar

Instructions

Tear your croissants into bite-size pieces and spread them evenly in a large rectangular baking dish. 13x9 is plenty big enough.
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat up the milk, cream, and salt until you just start to see the hint of bubbles around the edge of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for about a minute, then whisk to combine the chocolate with the cream.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Continue whisking constantly while you slowly add the cream and sugar mixture to the eggs. Just drizzle it in, then whisk until everything is nicely combined.
Strain the mixture as you pour it over your croissant pieces. Give it a light toss and make sure all the pieces are pressed down into the egg mixture. Let it soak for about 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 and put a kettle on to boil.
Place your baking pan inside a roasting pan and place it on the rack of your oven. Pour the water from your recently boiled kettle into the roasting pan until it's about halfway up the baking pan, then gently slide the rack in place. Bake for about 45 minutes or until set.
Serve warm. Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat before serving.

Adapted from Gale Gand

How to be Awesome on $20 a day https://awesomeon20.com/

Maple Macadamia Nut Malasada Bread Pudding

September 24, 2014July 27, 2016 Renee 13 Comments

Disclosure: I received free samples from LorAnn oils in exchange for writing this post. All opinions are awesomely my own.

I bought you malasadas last week, and this week, you’re going to love me even more because I saved them, let them go stale, and made them into something extra awesome. I made you Maple Macadamia Nut Malasada Bread Pudding.

See, malasadas are completely awesome when fresh, but they don’t hold up for very long. Eating a day old malasada is just a little sad. Then I thought, if Paula Dean can make bread pudding out of Krispy Kremes, why can’t I make bread pudding with malasadas? And then when LorAnn Oils sent me a free sample of their maple flavoring oil, everything came together in my mind and then in my oven to create one outrageous dessert.

Stale malasadas get soaked in a creamy, maple custard, topped with macadamia nuts, baked in the oven until puffy, and then topped with a maple cream glaze that tastes exactly like the frosting on a maple bar. I recommend eating it warm. It’s part soft and squishy, part crunchy and chewy, creamy, sweet, and completely awesome.

And here’s the super awesome thing about that maple oil. The flavoring is intense, so you only have to use a tiny bit to flavor the whole dessert. That means one bottle will last forever, which means you don’t have to spend a ton of money. I also have some more flavors to try out, which means I get to create more craziness for you, and that’s basically my favorite thing.

You know wasting food and wasting money are basically the same thing. If there’s a way to save it, and turn it into something just as good or better, you’ve got to go for it. Maple Macadamia Nut Malasada Bread Bread Pudding is rad!

Maple Macadamia Nut Malasada Bread Pudding

2014-09-23 21:35:24

Serves 8

Stale malasadas get transformed with a creamy, maple custard and a sweet maple glaze

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Ingredients

5 leftover malasadas or plain doughnuts
1/4 cup honey roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring oil

For the glaze

1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 drops maple flavoring oil

Instructions

Chop your malasadas into bite size pieces and spread them out a 9-inch pie pan. Scatter your chopped macadamia nuts over the top.
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar, cream, milk, and maple oil. Whisk until combined.
Pour your egg and milk mixture over your malasadas. Press the malasadas down into the custard to make sure everything gets good and soaked. Let it sit for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350. After the soaking time is up, bake for 40 minutes until puffy and ever so slightly wobbly. Let it cool off for about 10 minutes. Serve warm with the maple glaze below.

For the glaze