Croissant Bread Pudding with Lemon Butter and Blueberries Recipe

Ingredients

4 pieces 6-inch butter croissants, cut into quarters (slice half lengthwise then crosswise)
1/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon curd
1/4 cup dried blueberries
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, room temperature
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
3 tablespoons limoncello
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon curd

Preparation

Step 1

This croissant bread pudding is the kind of breakfast worth waking up early on a Saturday morning for. Butter croissants are slathered with a generous amount of lemon curd butter then allowed to soak in an indulgent mixture of eggs, milk, cream and limoncello before baking, and then coming out crisp, golden and delicious. What a wonderful breakfast to wake up to!

It has lemons (no surprise there), I use butter croissants instead of baguette (I prefer the flavour already in the croissants and besides, we always have extra croissants from the big box we always end up buying from Costco) but of course I kept the booze (of course). It is outstanding. Just the kind of thing that would make us sleeping-in-on-the-weekends people wake up early on a Saturday morning.

First you need stale (at least 2 days old) butter croissants. If you use fresh ones they’d be too soft and might fall apart once soaked in the custard. The ones we buy are big ones too, about 6 inches long, so I cut them in half lengthwise then crosswise.

I then take

and mix it with some butter. Now I have lemon curd butter spread which I have to stop myself from eating; instead I spread it generously on the bottom of each croissant before I arrange each piece in my baking dish.

Which brings us to the custard. Like most bread pudding, the custard mixture is a combination of milk, eggs and cream. There’s limoncello in this one and I have Chef Ramsay to thank for the idea of putting alcohol in bread puddings (genius).

Limoncello mixed with the custard just makes the custard so flavourful and wonderful. Don’t worry, you won’t taste the alcohol but it does make this an adult pudding (this can be your breakfast, the kids can have their chocolate pancakes).

So now you wait 20 minutes for the croissants to soak in all that goodness. Another 40 minutes in the oven. Once it’s out put some lemon curd glaze on top and I promise what you’ll have is the most fantastic lemon butter croissant bread pudding. Blueberries sprinkled all over is just an added bonus.

4 pieces 6-inch butter croissants, cut into quarters (slice half lengthwise then crosswise)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix 1/4 cup butter and 2 tablespoons lemon curd until fully incorporated. Spread the croissant slices with the lemon curd butter mixture and arrange on baking dish in overlapping layers. Sprinkle 1/4 cup dried blueberries between layers and all over the top. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk 3 eggs and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth and creamy. Add 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, 1 1/4 cups milk, 3 tablespoons limoncello and 1 teaspoon lemon zest and stir until well combined. Pour this mixture gently into your baking dish, making sure each croissant is submerged. Gently press down if necessary. Allow the croissants to soak in the custard for about 20 minutes.

Put the baking dish in a roasting pan filled with hot water that goes halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until golden brown and the inside of the pudding is set.

Microwave 1 teaspoon lemon curd for about 15 seconds to make it easier to spread. Once the bread pudding is out of the oven and still warm, spread the glaze on top of the pudding immediately.

Tip on the dish to use – assemble your cut croissants in the dish you’re planning to use first. If they all fit and they can easily be submerged by the custard, you’re good.

Make sure the croissants absorb the custard properly. If your bread still looks dry after 20 minutes, press down gently and soak for another 10 minutes or so.

Check your pudding at the halfway mark. If you think the tops are getting a little too brown too fast, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.

Did you make this croissant bread pudding?

. I’d love to hear all about it. What’s your favourite thing to make/eat for breakfast on a Saturday or any day? Here’s

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