Chocolate Croissant Pudding

Just this last week the morning air has taken on a crisp chill. Not one to make you shiver or pull the covers up in the morning shy to rise rather one that feels brisk as a prelude to autumn sunshiny days. It’s the shift you note that reminds you of the approaching swing from summer’s steamy languorous days to the frosty mornings of days spent kicking up fallen leaves and sipping hot tea planning meals of soups and stews. It’s also the time of year that signals easter’s beckoning and a short holiday period to laze and rejoice in company of loved ones before we settle in for the winter and that long stretch of months before long weekends and holidays return.

Easter has always been a special holiday for us. We’re not religious people observing the special meaning behind this period rather this time of year has been a time for us as a family to enjoy one last camping holiday before the real thick of the year settled in. This last break together before winter’s descent was always marked by easter egg hunts in the bush. The delighted shouts of excited kids would ring through the trees with a backdrop of kookaburra’s cawing almost hinting to the kids to of hidden chocolatey treasure and the whooshing of rivers rushing past us a white noise of the water’s course by our campsite like background music to the feverish scene. As the years went on and the kids became savvier the hunt would be quite a strategic affair, elbows would be sharpened and lines would be drawn between siblings and friends, but always to the tune of laughter and happiness.

As you’d expect food would always feature heavily over these weekends. Sometimes fish or seafood on Friday, not out of any particular observation but rather an excuse for a more indulgent meal. Hot Cross Buns a given of course, more recently using only this recipe. A Sunday lamb roast another non-negotiable. Sometimes slow cooked in a camp oven bubbling in its own juices, vegetables simmering alongside the succulent meat, other times rotated over the campfire on a spit the enticing aroma floating across the campsite making everyone hungry. And of course it wouldn’t be easter without ALL the chocolate, Lindt balls, Smarties Eggs, Elegant Bunnies and delicious rich Haigh’s Bilbies. And like all holiday periods where food is part of the celebration lots of leftovers.

Growing up we didn’t go away for easter or have a particular set of traditions we observed however food was the star of the weekend whether we were all home or not. Mum would cook smoked cod according to her grandmother’s recipe. The strangely golden hued fish with its tight white flesh simmering on the stove would exude a smell that failed to entice me in younger years and later was happily replaced by prawns and fish fillets pan fried. Hot cross buns would be available in copious volume all weekend though croissants appeared on Sunday to be enjoyed with chocolatey easter treats quite an exotic delight in those days. Though we didn’t have a tradition of holiday getaways these little food traditions did establish little seasonal rituals that marked the occasion and always created anticipation.

It's these little rituals we grow up with that inspire us to create our own. It’s also shifts and changes in the shape of your family and these holiday periods that create new additions to food traditions we enjoy and look forwards to.

Croissants are commonly available now, not the exotic luxury they once were. They’re an ingredient, though that still feels a bit special. Together with chocolate they’re the height of celebratory breakfast. Chocolate Croissant Pudding is particularly delicious with flaky layers of buttery pastry soaking in rich chocolate custard and baked to a warm gooey pudding, what better way to celebrate and indulge in all the richness of easter fun.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/3 C caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 Tb/10 gm cocoa

1 ½ C thickened or heavy cream

¼ C milk (Whatever kind you use is fine.)

1 ½ tsp cornflour

6 croissant (yesterday’s leftover ones work well here)

50gm chopped dark chocolate or leftover easter eggs

Butter softened to spread

A jar of caramel spread. You need roughly 2 tsps per croissant but you do you and enjoy the remains of the jar on ice cream.

Demerara Sugar for sprinkling. This isn’t a deal breaker if you don’t have it, just leave it out.

Method:

Slice open croissant and spread generously with butter and your chosen spread if you’re using one, set aside. Butter a suitably sized oven proof dish well.

In a large bowl whisk egg, sugar and vanilla well until completely combined and slightly foamy on top. Add cream and sifted cocoa and whisk again until completely combined and no cocoa lumps appear. Take a few spoons of the milk and combine with the cornflour until smooth then return to the remaining milk. Add this to the custard mixture again whisking to amalgamate.

In your buttered dish lay out the prepared croissant in a single layer. Pour over custard mixture and gently press to encourage the pastries to soak up the moisture. Leave to soak in the fridge for at least two hours (overnight is good too), croissant don’t seem to absorb in the same way as bread does when making the similar bread and butter pudding. I like to loosely place a sheet of baking paper over the top to cover so I can gently press on the pudding helping it along whenever I’m in the fridge.

When ready, preheat the oven to 180c. Take the pudding out of the fridge when you turn the oven on for it to lose some of its chill before going into the oven. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top. When ready place in the oven for 45 minutes checking half way through to be sure it’s not browning too much on top. You can cover with foil if needed.

When cooked remove from oven and allow to cool a little and settle for at least 15 minutes, serve warm. Serve with whatever creamy accompaniment your easter heart desires.

Notes:

~If caramel spread isn’t your thing you could also sub in a nut spread like Nutella, your favourite berry jam or leave out completely.

~Croissants not your easter jam? How about using up all those left over hot cross buns.

~If chocolate custard feels all too much you could follow this version of a bread style pudding which will work with croissant or hot cross buns.