Easy and quick

Bread pudding is an easy, quick dessert that is warm and comforting. My son likes it with chocolate; sometimes I make it with banana and chocolate milk. Last week I made one with dark chocolate and raspberries. I also enjoy savoury bread puddings like blue cheese with roast beef or ham and Gruyere cheese. My husband prefers a traditional bread and butter pudding with lots of raisins. You can use any bread you like, but sweet bread like brioche is going to be richer in flavour. I decided to go all out and make it with croissants. I didn’t have any raisins so I used dried currants, which he also likes. My fridge is full of apples so naturally I used them too. I would usually soak my currants in hot water or warm whiskey, but I chose to sauté them with the apples to soften them and use fewer pans. I’ve always made a big pan using 9×13 glass baking dish, but I went with a smaller 8-inch square instead. I still made a generous amount of liquid because my husband likes the pudding to have more custard. While in the past I would have let the bread soak overnight, I put it straight in the oven so the croissants would not soak up all the custard and be mushy. If you are able to make some crème Anglaise to serve with it that would be ideal.

Bread pudding with apples and currants
12 big croissants
1 tablespoon butter
3-4 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup dried currants
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanillaIn a large bowl tear croissants into small pieces, set aside. In a large pan over mediumhigh heat; melt butter and add apples. Cook, stirring often for 2-3 minutes then add sugar and currants. Cook another 3-5 minutes until apples are just tender. In another bowl; whisk together eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour over croissants, mix together slightly and then add apples and stir until combined. Put in prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until custard is set and pudding is firm and golden. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Makes 6-8 servings.