Dark Chocolate

Glorious Croissant Bread Pudding

by:
June 10, 2021
4
7 Ratings
Glorious Croissant Bread Pudding
Photo by Julia Gartland. Prop Stylist: Sophie Strangio. Food Stylist: Drew Aichele.
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour
  • makes One 9-inch square pan
Author Notes

Bread pudding is the elasticized waistband of the dessert world. Lacking the glamour of fashionably ripped jeans but with exactly the cozy comfort you want and need.

If that’s not a rousing-enough endorsement for you (though there could be no higher praise, I assure you), consider that this cheeky version contains butter-rich croissants instead of regular old bread. Their honeycombed airiness is exceptionally suited to sucking up loads of custard. Handfuls of tart raspberries and chocolate chips melt into gooey puddles throughout. It’s creamy, luxurious, and perfectly sweet, with enough bits and pieces throughout to keep every bite interesting.

Spring for croissants from your favorite bakery if you can, though grocery store croissants will do in a pinch. Weighing the croissants is the quickest way to ensure they’re in the right proportion to the custard. And while raspberries are lovely, sweet or sour cherries, blueberries, blackberries, or apricots could be swapped in easily (and frozen versions of all of these work fine as well).

I wouldn’t dare to suggest that because it’s bread and milk and fruit, it’s breakfast, exactly. But like stretchy pants, this croissant pudding is perfect anytime of day.
—Shilpa Uskokovic

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 4 to 5 large plain croissants (about 250 grams)
  • 2 cups (480 grams) heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups (350 grams) whole milk
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
  • 1 cup (170 grams) dark chocolate chips
  • 1 cup (120 grams) raspberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1/2 cup (45 grams) flaked almonds
Directions
  1. Cut the croissants into 1½-inch cubes (about the size of a walnut in the shell).
  2. Heat the cream, milk, and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the liquid just starts to simmer.
  3. Whisk the eggs, yolks, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture over the eggs, whisking fiercely to combine. Toss in the cubed croissants and mix with a spatula, until all of the croissant pieces are evenly coated and mostly submerged. Cover and set aside for 1 to 24 hours (refrigerate if it’ll be sitting for any longer than 2 hours).
  4. Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack positioned in the center.
  5. Just before baking, stir the chocolate chips and raspberries (if using frozen, no need to thaw) into the bread pudding mixture. Pour the whole lot into a 9-inch square pan (or any other dish with a 2-quart capacity). Scatter the flaked almonds on top and bake till the bread pudding is set, 50 to 60 minutes. The top of the bread pudding should be lightly puffed and dry to the touch, and the center should jiggle faintly when you shake the pan.
  6. Serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream, or a dollop of Greek yogurt, though it’s perfectly delicious plain, in large spoonfuls straight from the pan.
Capirotada de Leche (Mexican Bread Pudding) | Sweet Heat with Rick Martinez
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  • Mattie Vander Bleek
    Mattie Vander Bleek
  • Grace
    Grace
  • smartremark102
    smartremark102
Shilpa Uskokovic

Recipe by: Shilpa Uskokovic

Shilpa Uskokovic is recipe developer, food writer and budding food stylist and photographer. She was previously a line and pastry cook in some of NYC's top rated restaurants like Marea, The NoMad Hotel, Maialino and Perry Street. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Shilpa loves books, Bundt cakes, cute Basset Hounds and peak millennial memes. She was born and raised in Chennai, India.

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4 Reviews

Mattie V.
Mattie V. April 8, 2024
After making this I can't believe it doesn't have higher/more reviews. So I came to give my two cents that this is a far better recipe than I have found on any other recipe website for this dish because it requires a real custard. The cream and extra yolks are essential! (I personally think it doesn't need the addition of chocolate. Made it with raspberries and almonds and the flavor is plenty sweet and complex). As for the texture- bread puddings are what you make of them. It may need a bit more time at a lower temperature if it looks too soggy for your liking when the oven timer goes off. Use your judgment! For me, this was perfect with just about 7 more minutes in the oven, about 10 degrees lower.
 
Grace
Grace November 1, 2022
I'll start by saying that in the past, I'd never had bread pudding good enough for a second bite. But this recipe, it produces something that is a bread pudding while also an elevated dessert.

I've made this recipe many times over, the first couple of times stuck to the author's directions except for omitting the berries altogether (just included choc and nuts), turned out perfectly. Subsequent batches have included variations based on what I had on hand or preferences of diners. I did one version with 1/2 teas cinnamon added and walnuts instead of almonds, *chef's kiss*. A couple of times with 3/4 cup sugar, another time or two replacing some-to-all of the whole milk with coconut or almond milk.

Last night I made a double batch with choc chips, dried cherries and no nuts. It was devoured. In hindsight, walnuts would have been a great add for flavor and texture. I barely got a bite of it to make sure it turned out. Doubling the volume did require an extra 30 mins of baking time, came out perfect, again!

Thank you, Shilpa, for a gloriously luxurious and delicious recipe that is also wonderfully easy to make!
 
Grace
Grace November 15, 2022
I neglected to include that, as the comment by smartremark102 notes, this recipe is pudding forward, way low on the "bread" part of the ratio.

My preference is to round up on the croissants, adding somewhere in neighborhood of 300 - 400 g (depending on density/fluffiness/staleness of croissants) vs Shilpa's approx 250 g. I typically let look and feel of the "batter" guide me, based on how much of the wet ingredients the bread soaks up after a bit of sitting. I go for pretty loose and wet, but not swimming.
 
smartremark102
smartremark102 June 7, 2022
This recipe was a fail! There was too much liquid, so the bread pudding was a soggy mess. Would recommend using less liquid or a different recipe.