Spiced Rhubarb Croissant Pudding
What does love mean to you? For me, it’s all about spoiling that special someone with something sweet and shareable.
Which conveniently brings me to this seasonal, rich but not too sweet pudding that’s brilliant for making on Valentine’s Day, or indeed any day of this is-it-still-winter-or-is-it-spring period where we may not yet have warm sunny days, but we do have forced rhubarb in all its pink, tart glory. Which is something to celebrate.
As well as the rhubarb, my version of a bread and butter pudding is zhooshed up with a rich custard flavoured with vanilla and a Persian spice blend from Camelēr, my lovely friend Halle’s spice company, which has fragrant rose, cinnamon and cloves, the perfect pairing for rhubarb and custard.
For even more sweetness you could also add little nuggets of white chocolate interspersed in the layers of croissant and rhubarb or simply serve as is, with two spoons. Just call me cupid.
Ingredients
3-4 stale plain croissants
120g rhubarb
1 tsp demerara sugar
Spiced Custard
250ml semi-skimmed milk
200ml double cream
3 medium egg yolks
60g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla bean extract
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180℃ /160℃ fan. First make the spiced custard. Weigh the milk, cream and half the sugar into a small saucepan and mix. Over a low-medium heat, warm the mixture until it is steaming and starting to hiss at the edges but do not allow to boil.
In a medium bowl, mix the egg yolks and the remaining sugar.
Pour the hot milk mix into the eggs, mixing thoroughly, then return to the saucepan.
Heat the custard, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure you're getting into all the corners of the pan, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon. Pass the custard through a sieve to remove any cooked bits of egg. Stir through the vanilla bean paste and Camelēr Spice Co Advieh-e Halegh spice blend, mix well.
Trim the ends of the rhubarb stalks and slice at an angle into 2cm pieces.
Slice the croissants using a serrated knife from the short end into 1.5-2cm thick slices.
Spoon a little custard into the base of an oven safe dish (I used a 28cm Falconware dish) then add a layer of croissant slices interspersed with rhubarb pieces. Pour over a ladle or so of custard, ensuring it soaks into the croissants, then repeat with a second layer of croissant, rhubarb and custard. You may not need all of the custard but be generous, you want it to soak into and become unctuous and gooey.
Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Leave to cool a little before digging in but it’s also delicious cold.