Croissant pudding with Bailey's custard

Ingredients

• 20 g soft butter, for lining the dish
• 8 croissants, cut in half lengthways (see Note)
• 100 g softened butter
• 50 g dark chocolate chunks
• 50 g pistachio nuts, crushed
• 2 whole eggs
• 60 g icing sugar
• 1½ tbsp vanilla extract
• 200 ml Baileys Irish Cream
• 400 ml single cream
• ¼ cup (3 tbsp) light brown sugar

Custard

• 300 ml Baileys Irish Cream
• 200 ml single cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 100 g icing sugar
• 3 vanilla pods

Resting time after cooking: 15 minutes.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 185°C. Grease a non-stick baking dish with softened butter.
2. Spread the 100 g of butter on the halved (or quartered, see Note) croissants and begin lining them across the baking dish. As you layer, add some chocolate chips and pistachio nuts in between each croissant, until the whole dish is full and nothing else is left.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, icing sugar, vanilla extract, Baileys and single cream until smooth and pour this into the dish, allowing it to be absorbed. Rest the dish for 15 minutes.
4. While the dish is resting, make the custard. Warm the Baileys and cream to about 80°C in a saucepan over a medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, icing sugar and seeds from the vanilla pods.
5. Once the cream mixture is warmed add it to the egg mix and stir to dissolve the sugar. Return it to the heat and cook, stirring, for a few minutes over a high heat until it coats the back of a spoon. You have to stir it constantly. Place in a bowl, cover with some parchment paper and chill in the fridge.
6. Next, back to the pudding. Sprinkle the sugar across the top, place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 45 minutes until it has risen and turned golden brown.
7. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes before serving with the chilled Baileys custard.

Note

• This is a good way to use up one- or two-day-old croissants.
• If the croissants are large, and depending on the depth of your baking dish, you may want to cut them in half lengthways and then in half again, crossways, creating triangular shapes.