I have been working at Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego for about 3 months now, and I am more in love with it now than I was when I was only a frequent customer ;) Long story short, I have found my nirvana - and now it sends me a paycheck! One of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my extensive experience is Extraordinary's Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. It's an irresistible combination of crisp, buttery croissant, velvety melted chocolate and smooth custard that blends in every bite. Do I have your attention yet? Because of its popularity, Karen Krasne (the owner of Extraordinary Desserts) published it in an article in the San Diego Reader. I jumped at the chance to replicate it at home for family and friends, and I think I did a pretty good job of recreating the magic. For the ultimate impact, warm up the bread pudding in the oven (or serve straight out of it) and serve with some fresh whipped cream and/or ice cream.
A few notes: This recipe serves a LOT - feel free to cut down the recipe as long as you use smaller dishes in proportion. In terms of the chocolate, Karen Krasne swears by Valrhona 61 percent. However, Valrhona is probably the most expensive you could buy, so judge by your budget. Trader Joe's has fantastic dark chocolate Pound Plus bars, or you can use Scharffen Berger or Ghirardelli. Just make sure it's around 60% cacao. Also, the recipe calls for 10 croissants, but if you have large croissants don't use all 10. You want to make sure each of the croissant layers is not too thick - the top layer shouldn't be more than a couple of cubes thick (to avoid too much dry croissant on the top).
Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
From Extraordinary Desserts (in the San Diego Reader)
4 C heavy cream
- ¾ C lowfat milk
- 1 whole vanilla bean or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 12 egg yolks (you can freeze egg whites for use later - like in French macarons!)
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 10 medium/large croissants, cut into 2˝ pieces
- 2 C coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
Directions: To make the crème brûlée custard, heat cream, milk, and vanilla in a medium saucepan to almost — but not quite — a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar until smooth. Carefully stir the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture and then whisk until smooth. Strain the mixture by pouring it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth into a separate bowl. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place one and a half cups of the crème brûlée mixture in the bottom of a heavy oval baking dish. Layer the croissant pieces on top of the crème brûlée mixture. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate on top of the croissant pieces. Add another layer of croissant pieces followed by one cup crème brûlée mixture poured on top. Place the remaining croissant pieces on top and cover with the remaining crème brûlée. Bake for 50 minutes. Serve hot or warm.
And now, on to the PIE! Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think it's Thanksgiving without at least one pie. While I wanted to honor the timeless pumpkin tradition, I found a recipe that seemed to be a great compromise between creativity and the old stand-by. This apple butter pumpkin pie with streusel topping is a fantastic melding of two fall flavors, without tasting too much like one or the other. It's not dramatically different from the traditional recipe but I liked that there was a subtle variation in taste added by the apple butter. Also, the butter makes the filling incredibly creamy (much more than with pumpkin alone) and the center just melts in your mouth. The crisp crust and crunchy streusel topping with pecans makes an excellent contrast to the filling - an essential element to any great pie!
A note about the streusel: I used about 1/3 of the recipe for the topping because I didn't want to have a super thick layer of sugar on top. This part is up to you based on your personal taste!
Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
with Pecan Streusel Topping
From Tidy Mom
1 uncooked pie crust (I like the Pillsbury sold rolled up and frozen - you thaw it and press it into your own pie pan)
Filling:
1 C canned pumpkin
1 C apple butter
1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 C evaporated milk
Topping:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 C flour
1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C chopped pecans
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take frozen pie dough out to thaw for about 15 minutes so it doesn't crack when you unroll it. Combine ingredients for filling in a large bowl in the order given. Press pie dough into 8' pie pan, and fold over extra on the edges to crimp into the edge of the crust. Place foil on top of the dough and add ceramic pie weights or beans (to keep the crust from bubbling). Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove and let cool. Meanwhile, make the streusel topping. Combine flour and sugar, then cut in cold butter using a pastry cutter or two forks. Stir in chopped pecans and set aside.
Pour filling into the cooled pie crust and bake for about 35 minutes. Add streusel topping and baking for an additional 15-20 minutes. If the edge of the crust starts getting too brown, make a foil shield around the edge during the last part of baking! Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour.
And now, on to the PIE! Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think it's Thanksgiving without at least one pie. While I wanted to honor the timeless pumpkin tradition, I found a recipe that seemed to be a great compromise between creativity and the old stand-by. This apple butter pumpkin pie with streusel topping is a fantastic melding of two fall flavors, without tasting too much like one or the other. It's not dramatically different from the traditional recipe but I liked that there was a subtle variation in taste added by the apple butter. Also, the butter makes the filling incredibly creamy (much more than with pumpkin alone) and the center just melts in your mouth. The crisp crust and crunchy streusel topping with pecans makes an excellent contrast to the filling - an essential element to any great pie!A note about the streusel: I used about 1/3 of the recipe for the topping because I didn't want to have a super thick layer of sugar on top. This part is up to you based on your personal taste!
Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
with Pecan Streusel Topping
From Tidy Mom
1 uncooked pie crust (I like the Pillsbury sold rolled up and frozen - you thaw it and press it into your own pie pan)
Filling:
1 C canned pumpkin
1 C apple butter
1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 C evaporated milk
Topping:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 C flour
1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C chopped pecans
Pour filling into the cooled pie crust and bake for about 35 minutes. Add streusel topping and baking for an additional 15-20 minutes. If the edge of the crust starts getting too brown, make a foil shield around the edge during the last part of baking! Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour.
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