Never let a good croissant go to waste with Lune founder Kate Reid's recipes for croissant"bread and butter"pudding and croissant croutons,both from her new cookbookLune:Croissants All Day,All Night.
Croissant"bread and butter"pudding
Bread and butter pudding doesn't have a very glamorous ring to it,but let me tell you,this pudding punches well above its weight. So much so that it was promoted to a Lune Lab dessert back in 2018.
As per the requirements for a Lune Lab dish,we didn't just serve up a scoop of pudding. We took a set slice of croissant pudding,fried it in beurre noisette,then coated it in vanilla sugar. It was served alongside house-made cultured cream and a blackberry compote.
Here I have given you the recipe for croissant"bread and butter"pudding (which is incredibly delicious as it is – serve to dinner guests with a scoop of best-quality vanilla ice-cream and you'll have them licking their plates clean). There are also a few variations,should you feel so inclined to try a little flavour twist to the base recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 6 day-old croissants
- 4 eggs
- 250g milk
- 250g thickened cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30g caster sugar
Croissant croutons
Many cuisines,the world over,include dishes featuring some sort of a bread crouton.
Pieces of dried bread,or croutons,are the key ingredient in panzanella,the simple yet perfect Tuscan tomato and bread salad. Caesar salad utilises little crunchy croutons to add textural depth to a creamy,salty dish that masquerades under its healthy"salad"banner (I mean,remove the cos lettuce and you basically have a deconstructed hangover fry-up). Fattoush,originating from Lebanon,uses leftover pita,fried and tossed with in-season chopped vegetables and herbs,often garnished with zingy sumac.
There are but three examples,and we've only considered the category of salads!
The myriad soups that are likewise infinitely improved when garnished with a handful of croutons (I'm looking squarely at you,French onion) make this use of leftover croissants one of the easiest yet most powerful kitchen weapons you can possess.
INGREDIENTS
- day-old croissants
- olive oil,for drizzling
- sea salt flakes
- ground black pepper
- METHOD
- Allow leftover croissants to rest for at least one night to become stale and dry out.
- The following day,preheat your oven to 155C fan-forced (175C conventional). Cut each croissant into four or five large slices,then cut or tear the slices into rough pieces,approximately 2.5cm.
- Lay the pieces out on a baking tray in a single layer,being careful not to overcrowd the tray. Drizzle the croissant pieces with olive oil,then season generously with sea salt flakes and pepper.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes,tossing the croutons on the tray every 5 minutes,until they are crisp and reach a deep golden colour all over.
- Allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your salad or soup of choice.
This is an edited extract fromLune:Croissants All Day,All Night by Kate Reid,photography by Pete Dillon. Hardie Grant Books,RRP $55.