Croissants add extra flavor, texture to bread pudding

In my fantasy version of the culinary world, most desserts would feature dark chocolate as the main ingredient. Oh, I might break things up a bit with a cheesecake here and there, but dark chocolate would rule the kitchen.

While this plan suits my taste buds quite nicely, the real world calls for a more diverse approach to desserts. And truthfully, I do enjoy different textures and tastes. The challenge as a baker lies in not allowing your personal preferences to dominate all your recipes.

Our dessert experiences, both delicious and disastrous, contributes to this challenge. Tastes and textures that repel our taste buds play as important a role as those that elicit the most excitement.

Case in point: bread pudding. My husband associates this dessert with warm childhood memories while I equate bread pudding with overly sweet baked French toast that's rubbery to boot.

So I've avoided making bread pudding over the years, offering creative excuses to avoid creating a bread pudding recipe. When my husband asks, I sidestep the request.

Then recently when I thumbed through a food magazine from the '80s I discovered a bread pudding recipe that called not for stale bread but flaky croissants. Now that piqued my interest.

Classic bread pudding offers a dessert as old as baking itself. Without modern preservatives, homemade bread quickly stales when exposed to air. Scarcity of food inspired bakers to create a dessert using hardened bread.

While I respect the resourcefulness and history behind the standard recipe, modern life offers a variety of alternatives. Unlike plain bread, croissants bring interesting taste and textural possibilities to this homey dessert.

The signature flavor behind croissants lies in the laminated dough. The process begins by inserting soft and pliable butter into a pocket, centered inside bread dough. Repeated rolling and folding creates multitudes of thin layers coated with butter.

Exposed to oven heat, the yeast-raises croissants bake into flaky goodness. Heated moisture from the butter separates the layers and infuses the roll with savory flavor, tender texture and a golden brown crust.

Substituting cubed croissants for the bread adds intense flavor and lightness to the recipe. When tossed with a delicate custard of whole milk and eggs, bread pudding feels soft and fluffy on palate.

With the texture issue resolved, I turned my attention to the brash sweetness of the original recipe. I reduced the sugar to ¿ cup and added a full teaspoon of vanilla extract to smooth the sweetness and enhances the custard-style texture.

As with croissants, this pudding's flavor develops when baked until deep golden brown. Served warm, today's recipe offers a uniquely different and delicious take on the bread pudding. Even my husband agrees.

Not Your Grandmother's Bread Pudding

3 large croissants cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups)

2 cups whole milk

3 large eggs, well beaten

¿ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bottom of 8-inch square baking pan.

Spoon croissant cubes evenly in baking pan. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together milk, beaten eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Slowly pour over cubed croissants. Gently press down on croissant mixture until all cubes are moistened.

Bake 60-65 minutes, just until tester inserted slightly off center comes out clean. Top should be golden brown.

Cool 15 minutes in pan. Serve pudding warm; either plain or with ice cream.

Baker's hint: For a fruity variation, toss ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries with croissant cubes before adding custard.

Nutrition values per serving: 330 calories, 13 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 44 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 9 g protein, 144 mg cholesterol, 354 mg sodium.