Ingredients
Dry Mix:
700g of plain croissant (or pain au choc, for the chocolate lovers)
Note: This could constitute anything from 6 to 10 croissant depending on the size. Note that this recipe can easily be halved and will fit nicely into a large loaf tin).
70g raisins
For the Custard:
300ml double cream (standard smaller size pot)
250g full-fat/whole milk
4 large eggs (1 of which for its yolk only)
1 unwaxed, washed lemon (for zest only; use two lemons if you want a bit more of a kick)
40g of golden caster or light brown sugar
To Sprinkle on Top:
30g of demerara sugar
Baking/roasting Dish: 35cm L x 24cm W x 6.5cm H dish (this is what I use, something similar will do; or, just halve the recipe and use something smaller; but do err on the side of something deep)
The USA Pan Rectangular Cake Pan is perfect for the full recipe or if you do decide to half the recipe then The USA Pan 8" Square Cake Pan works great.
We came up with this idea, Pwdin Bara Menyn (Bread and Butter Pudding), as a way to re-use leftover croissants years ago when I had a café attached to the bakehouse, and it’s real comfort food – a perfect dessert for these chilly, last days of winter. Because it’s made with croissants and baked on parchment, there’s no additional butter (normally used to grease-proof the dish); but rest assured, this is still heavy on the good stuff, as proper croissants from your local bakery (or indeed from your own kitchen) contain more than enough ‘menyn’ (Welsh for butter, pronounced ‘menin’) in their own right. This is a great dish for experimenting with too. At Christmas time I added in 200g of our homemade boozy vegetarian mincemeat instead of the plain raisins. Wow. So if you have any leftover yourself, give it a try. Some recipes call for heating the custard mix up prior to pouring it over the bread (or in this case croissants), but I find that there’s really no need. Also, avoiding this step makes it super quick and easy, which is always a bonus.
Serves: 8, generously
Method:
Line with grease-proof baking parchment (ensure the parchment is large enough to come right up to the top of the dish on all four sides. A 40cm x 40cm sheet should do the trick. Press it into place.
In a separate large mixing bowl, add 700g of shredded croissants and 70g of raisins. (Shred croissants into roughly 4cm x 4cm pieces. Don’t worry about the size too much, they could be twice as big, a combination is good. Just rip them up! You can weigh as you rip.)
Tip into your lined baking dish and distribute evenly.
Now into your empty mixing bowl, weigh 300ml cream (the whole pot), 250g of full-fat/whole milk; add 3 whole large eggs plus an additional yolk (total egg weight is around 190g); add in 40g of golden caster or light brown sugar; 1 tsp of vanilla extract (2-3g); whisk all together thoroughly for a few minutes.
Pour your wet mix over your shredded croissants (careful that this ‘custard’ doesn’t spill over the grease-proof parchment, where it’ll be useless; make sure your parchment comes up high enough).
Now tamp your croissants down into the custard firmly with a potato masher so that all the dry bits become saturated. They’ll bounce up again a bit but don’t worry.
Now turn on your oven and heat it up to 180C. Let the croissants soak up all the creamy custardy loveliness whilst the oven gets up to temperature. Then, finally, sprinkle the top with 30g of demerara sugar before baking (at 180 C) for 35-40 minutes; or until nicely golden and puffy.
Leave it to cool for 30 minutes before serving. Keep any leftovers in the fridge and then cut slices the following day to fry in a non-stick pan until slightly caramelised, and serve hot with a quality ice cream.
