Croissant bread pudding with Nutella and berries
Ah brunch. The new dinner party. It seems easier to host a brunch, more festive. You can still drink, because mimosas don’t count. Neither does beer, or anything else these days! Your prep is really limited to what you can throw together in a an hour or two before your guests arrive, and part of the fun is to be cooking, with kids running around, people making coffee, and everyone bringing something to contribute. Brunches are definitely the way forward.
Bread pudding is always a brunch crowd-pleaser, and when you jazz it up with croissants, berries and NUTELLA, (for goodness sake!) it becomes pretty damned irresistible. Although I have to admit, I had to make this recipe 3 times to get it perfect for you all - which is unlike me. Not to toot my own horn, but I have a pretty good cooking radar and I was a bit surprised and increasingly stubborn about the fact that this dish wasn’t quite perfect…
I first made it to bring to a brunch. The recipe attracted me, because you could prepare it the night before, then bang it in the oven when your alarm goes off the next morning and an hour later when you are ready to go - it’s also ready to go, hot and saucy! But that first time, it took friggen forever to cook, the middle staying stubbornly liquid while the edges slowly turned to a scrambled egg, quiche-like rubber. Dammit. We ate it anyway, obviously. Because Nutella. I made it with bananas that time which was pretty yummy. I’ve given you this variation too.
The second time I also took it to a brunch, but of course, I didn’t take any pictures, and, if you can believe it, I went horrifically overboard with the Nutella. I know, I know, It hardly seems possible, but a whole jar in one casserole is too much, take my word for it. I also am on my 4th - 5th time learning the lesson that custard is better made with milk. Using cream is just too much. I don’t want this to be true, but sometimes some things are just a certain way, and custard is one of those things. This time I cooked it in a bain marie and the custard was perfectly set - yessss. But I didn’t know I wanted to do a blog post so… no pictures.
After that I wrote down the recipe, and then of course wanted to test it and take photos. Unfortunately pregnancy naps are a real thing that take up most of the afternoon so unfortunately, while I got some lovely ingredient shots in the late afternoon sun, the final product had to make do with my harsh overhead lighting. But I fed it too some dear friends who came around for dinner and board games, so I was just happy it could get appreciated. I am now really happy with how perfectly this recipe turns out… try it next time you are invited to a brunch! Oh, and if you haven’t played Code Names yet, get it! It’s a super fun, easy to learn game. Such a good time!
Ingredients
Difficulty: Medium
Prep time: 1 hour 20 mins (1 hour is cooking time)
Serves: 4 - 6
4-5 Large croissants
2 Punnets of berries or 2 small bananas
3 Extra large eggs
3 Cups milk/half and half
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
14 Dots (teaspoons) of Nutella
Method
If baking the same day, preheat the oven to 350f (180c)
Whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla and sugar together- get the sugar as dissolved as possible.
Cut the croissants into slices, about 3/4 inch thick.
Layer croissant slices into a ceramic baking dish. I used my 9 inch pie plate and it fit most of the 5 croissants in with some extra slices for snacking. You can overlap them slightly to reach halfway up the side.
Spread half a punnet of each type of berry, or one banana in one inch slices over the croissants.
Dot 6 teaspoons of Nutella over the layer (I oiled the spoon with a bit of Pam to get them out), then pour half of you egg mixture over everything.
Pause to slather a slice of croissant in Nutella and devour. Steal a berry to go with it.
Put the second and last layer of croissant slices, berries and 8 teaspoons of Nutella in the dish. Pour over the rest of the egg mixture. Leave to soak for half an hour or overnight in the fridge. If you are making it with banana leave the last layer of banana til the morning so they don't go brown.
Consume the extra slices of croissant with Nutella and steal a berry or two. Cooks privilege.
Put the kettle on to boil. Place your casserole dish in a roasting dish/large pan big enough to give you at least 1/2 inch around the edge. Place the roasting tray with the dish in the oven, pull out the oven rack and only then add the hot water to the roasting pan to make a water bath/ bain marie. Carefully (without sloshing water into your eggs) slide the rack in.
This will take 45 to 60 minutes to cook - sometimes longer if everything was very cold. It is ready when the middle is slightly wiggly but not liquid. Don't bother even checking until 45 mins cos the water will slosh everywhere as you pull out the rack. The bain marie is important - water only goes up to 212f (100c) so it protects the edge of your pudding so the center can be perfect without the edges looking like scrambled eggs.
Enjoy while warm! If making this for brunch- everything can be assembled the night before. Put it in the oven as soon as it is preheating to get the cold edge off, then add the water as soon as it is boiled. You can then go back and snooze/shower or get going on your other dishes. Or if you are making with bananas, add the second layer the morning just before you bake, or they will go brown when exposed to air for too long.
