Pear Croissant Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise
Ingredients
- 6 croissants cut up into 1 inch cubes
- 2 pears cored and sliced thinly
- 1/4 cup pecans coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons sugar Use brown sugar for a caramel flavor
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups milk best ratio is 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Creme Anglaise:
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup hot milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375F.
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In an oven safe dish, put all the croissants cubes, make sure they fill only half the depth of the pan. Arrange the ear slices and pecans between the croissant pieces.
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In a bowl, whisk the sugar and remaining ingredients to make the custard and pour that over the croissant and pear mixture evenly. Press down the croissants to make sure the custard is evenly distributed.
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Bake the bread pudding for 30 mins until all the custard is absorbed and the pudding had puffed to the top of the dish.
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In the meantime, make the creme anglaise.
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Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a small pot until it’s well blended and smooth.
Then put the pot on the stove over medium heat and add in the heated milk gradually. Whisk gradually as you add the milk, and then keep whisking the creme anglaise until the eggs start to cook.
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Whisk for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens, then strain the sauce for a smoother texture.
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Add the vanilla and butter to the sauce.
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Drizzle the creme anglaise over the bread pudding, cut up and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Croissant Bread Pudding Recipe Tips
- Make sure you don’t over fill your oven dish, because it may overflow in the oven and you don’t need that! Remember the croissant bread pudding will puff in the oven.
- For your bread pudding to have the best contrast in texture, use a combo of croissants, fruit and nuts.
- For the Creme Anglaise, remember to keep whisking until it starts to simmer on the edges and gradually thickens. Likewise, remember to not bring it to a boil.
- If you feel your creme anglaise needs to be smoother, pass it through a sieve and add a tablespoon of butter at the end. Let the butter melt in the heat of the sauce for a velvety creamy texture.
- You can prepare the bread pudding 3 days in advance and store it in the fridge. Likewise, you can freeze it for 3 months (without the creme anglaise).
- While cinnamon was my top pick for spice today, I think chai spice would feel more like Fall! But you could play around with the spices, or skip them all together and make it a vanilla custard, and it was still taste delicious!
- This croissant bread pushing recipe is absolutely not heavy on the sugar, and it leaves you room to adjust. So adding a few tablespoons more or less of sugar won’t affect the recipe at all. Therefore feel free to adjust it to your taste buds!
How to Serve Croissant Bread Pudding?
We LOVE it either with the creme anglaise, or for a quicker option use vanilla ice cream! SO GOOD too!
Are Croissants good for bread pudding?
YES, yes and yes! They're buttery, soft and tender! This eliminates the need to soak your bread for hours.
How to Store Leftovers?
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Truthfully, they taste even better!
How to Make this bread pudding recipe in advance? How to Freeze?
Prepare your croissants, fruits and soak in the custard overnight. If you want to freeze it, you can do so well wrapped in foil and plastic wrap. Freeze the baking dish for up to 1 month and bake from frozen with extra 15-20 minutes.
You can thaw the pudding from the freezer before baking and bake as per the recipe.