Chocolate Croissant Pudding

, from Issue #25. September, 2015
Photography by Aaron McLean.
Chocolate Croissant Pudding

This luscious version of the classic bread and butter pudding couldn’t be more removed from its nursery predecessor. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Serves: 6–8

INGREDIENTS

6 croissants, sliced in half
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
150 grams dark chocolate, chopped
4 free-range egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cup capacity baking dish

To serve
icing sugar
cream or ice cream

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan to just below boiling point. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until smooth.

Combine the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour on the hot chocolate cream, whisking constantly until well combined.

Dip each croissant half in the chocolate custard. Arrange, overlapping, with the pointy ends up, in the baking dish. Pour the remaining custard over the croissants. Leave for 30 minutes, occasionally spooning the custard over the croissants to ensure they are all well soaked. The pudding can be made one day ahead to this point. Cover and refrigerate, removing it from the fridge 1 hour before cooking.

Put the baking dish in a roasting pan and pour in enough very hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the custard is softly set. Cover the top loosely with a piece of aluminium foil if the top is browning too much. Remove the baking dish from the water and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

To serve: Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream or ice cream.