Chai Spiced Bread and Butter Pudding

A true classic with an Indian twist – delicious buttery morsels of croissants get drown in a decadent chai-spiced custard and balanced with fresh cherries and pistachios

When I asked my community on Instagram which recipe I should include in my winter pudding series, a bread and butter pudding came up as a firm favourite – so here we are. Nothing more than some stale bread tossed in a delicious custard, this has been an age old way to not have any food waste.

My aunt regularly made a version of bread pudding for us growing up, but that was a slightly different version which was made without eggs. It was incredibly deliciously spiced though, and we always enjoyed it with a dollop of ice cream. I drew inspiration from that to create this chai spiced version. The spices naturally bring a depth of warmth and also help temper the sweetness of the custard, but I have also given you a more classic version should you want to begin there.

Using this base recipe, the world is your oyster – add in any seasonal fruit and nuts you like to bring balance and texture and even throw in some chocolate chips for a choc chip version. I hope you personalise this recipe and make it your own – happy baking 🙂

If you make this recipe, please share it with me by tagging me on Instagram @adventureswithsugar or on Facebook at Adventures with Sugar.

FOR THE CHAI SPICED MILK

• 350 – 450ml full cream milk
• two ceylon/english breakfast tea bags
• 60g fresh ginger, cut into chunks
• 5 green cardamon pods, lightly bashed
• a generous grating of fresh nutmeg
• two cinnamon sticks
• two bay leaves

METHOD

1. Infuse the milk with the spices: Place 350ml of the milk into a medium sized heat proof saucepan. Place the rest of the ingredients into the milk. Heat and bring to a boil, and keep at a gentle rolling boil for about 5 minutes, then set the milk aside to infuse for about an hour.
2. Measure out the milk: Strain all of the spices out of the milk and measure it out. It usually reduces a bit, so for the recipe top it up until you have 300ml of chai to add to the custard 🙂 Then use as instructed below if you are making the chai version of the custard.

FOR THE CHAI SPICES TO ADD TO THE CUSTARD

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
• a grating of fresh nutmeg, around 1 teaspoon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD

1. Mix the spices: Combine all the spices and use in the recipe as directed below, if you are making the chai version of the custard.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

• 6 – 8 croissants, cubed and dried
• chai spices (optional) if making a chai version
• 250ml whipping cream
• 300ml full cream milk (or the chai infused milk listed above), if you are making the chai version
• 180g – 200g brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 60g salted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 200g fresh pitted cherries (optional), quartered and divided 150g and 50g
• 100g pistachios (optional), roughly chopped and divided 80g and 20g
• 45g salted butter, melted for “garnishing”
• 3 – 4 tablespoons demarara sugar for “garnishing”
• icing sugar, for dusting
• additional custard and/or ice cream for serving

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven and toast the croissants: Preheat the oven to 120 degrees celcius. The croissants absorb the liquid much better, and avoid producing a stogy pudding if they are dried in the oven first. To begin, slice the croissant in half and then cube them into 2cm cubes. Place the cubed croissants on a tray and place in the oven for around 20 minutes. They will be toasted, dry and a golden brown when ready. Remove from the oven and set aside.
2. Make the custard: To note: if you prefer your pudding on the sweeter side, then use 200g of sugar, but you can reduce this. The spices do temper the sweetness quite a bit, so I prefer to use the full 200g, but I know some people prefer the pudding less sweet. Place the cream and milk in a saucepan and heat until steaming, but not boiling. Place the eggs, egg yolk, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and melted butter in a bowl and mix to combine. Then pour over the warmed milk/cream and combine. If using the chai spices, add them in too.
3. Begin layering the pudding: Remove about two handfuls of croissants and set aside. Then of the remaining croissants, add about a third of the croissants to a 20cm by 30cm baking dish. Then add half of the 150g of cherries (so 75g) and half of the 80g of pistachios (so 40g). Repeat with another third of croissants and similar cherries and pistachios and finally more croissants.
4. Add the custard to the croissants: Pour over all the custard and let it absorb into the croissants for a minute or two. Then press the bread down a bit to ensure it is fully submerged. Once baked, this becomes incredibly soft and delicious. I do then like to take the remaining handfuls of croissants we set aside and top it off on the pudding, without it absorbing the custard. This provides a wonderful contrast between the crunchy bread on the top, and the soft, soaked pudding at the bottom.
5. Let the pudding rest: For the custard to absorb into the bread, cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
6. Preheat the oven and “Garnish” the pudding: Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius. Remove the pudding from the fridge and remove the cling wrap. Add on the remaining 50g of cherries you set aside, but do not add the pistachios as they burn. Then pour on the remaining 45g of melted butter and sprinkling of demarara sugar which we reserved for the garnish.
7. Bake the pudding: Bake the pudding for around 50 – 60 minutes. After about 15 – 20 minute, the croissants may have turned a deep golden brown. To prevent it from further browning, cover the pudding with foil and continue to bake for the remaining time. Even though after 20 minutes the pudding will look baked, the custard underneath would not have set and you will end up with a runny mess (trust me, I tried this ;)).
8. Finish off the pudding and enjoy: Once the pudding comes out of the oven, let it sit for 20 minutes before scattering on the remaining pistachios, giving it a bit of a dusting with the icing sugar and serving with custard and/or ice cream.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com