I already mentioned that I am still deep into comfort food, even though the holidays are past. Since I am too damn old to wear a bikini ever again without breaking many state and federal laws prohibiting harassment and causing personal trauma to innocents, I have nothing pulling me towards getting in shape for bikini season. Our pool on our land is secluded enough that I can go out there in a tank top and shorts and not have anyone but the cats laughing at me. So fat and relatively happy I will stay. At fifty I’ve earned the right 😛 or at least that is what I tell myself as I continue to make high calorie, fattening foods.
I love cinnamon rolls. What’s not to love, right? Warm, yeasty pastry, gooey filling and a sweet glaze. Darn… now I want cinnamon rolls. The problem is that 1) I’m lazy and 2) the closest place to us that sells them is about 35 minutes away, unless I want to get the tubes (ummmm, no) or the bakery section of the store kind, which I will sometimes, but they are always a disappointment. So what do I do at times like this, when I am in the throes of laziness and it’s too cold to venture out of the house? I make some cinnamon roll bread pudding.
Now, you could make these with Kings Hawaiian Bread, which is my usual go to for sweet bread puddings, or you could use cinnamon bread or you could even go so far as to use actual cinnamon rolls with this. But, I can’t do that because even I have to draw the calorie line SOMEWHERE not to mention there’s that whole point above about lazy…
So I used croissants. Yeah, yeah, I know… not much better than the cinnamon rolls themselves, but let me keep deluding myself. It makes me happy and a happy Janet is a baking Janet, right? This a yummy bread pudding and quick to throw together, though it does have to bake for a bit. But with this you have a creamy custard flavored base mixed with flaky croissants, then baked and covered in a sweet creamy cream cheese glaze, a la the frosting on the cinnamon roll. Just make sure to not over bake. It will still taste good, but as it gets cold in the fridge, the texture suffers. I was using two different sizes of ramekins because that’s all I had and the smaller ones were too firm my taste once chilled, not creamy. This makes 6 8 ounce ramekins, so cut it in half if, as I always say, you’re not feeding an army or teenage boys.
You know the drill… 🙂
Mrs. Cupcake- who has lovely cinnamon scented breath now 😛
Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding With A Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 regular sized croissants, broken into chunks and set aside
- 1 8 ounce package of softened cream cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 1/4 cups heavy cream or half and half
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- boiling water
- In a large bowl, beat together 4 ounces of the softened cream cheese and the sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat well. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla extract, then the melted butter
- Dump the croissant chunks on top and press them down into the custard to make sure all the pieces get nice and moist. Let the whole mix sit for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 while waiting. Grease 6 8 ounce ramekins (or you could use a greased baking dish, preferably glass as bread pudding tend to take on a metal taste from regular pans) with butter. Place the greased ramekins inside of a large baking dish.
- Stir the pudding mixture, then evenly divide it between the waiting ramekins. Place the pan in the oven near the center, then carefully pour boiling water into the pan around the puddings until it is about a third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to splash into the ramekins themselves.
- Bake at 325 until the puddings are just barely set. A butter knife inserted in the center and wiggled should show a nice moist center, but not a bunch of liquid coming up around the knife. Do NOT over bake.
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven then remove the ramekins from the pan and set on the counter to cool.
- Make the glaze- in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, the remaining cream cheese, the teaspoon of vanilla extract and the lemon zest, if using. Beat at medium speed with a hand mixer until the mixture is creamy. Add in the cream, a little at a time, until you get a glaze the consistency you prefer. It may take more or less than what I have written.
- When the puddings are room temp, you can either chill them from if you like them cold, as I do. or glaze them once they hit room temp. Either way, just drizzle or spoon the glaze on top when ready to serve. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon and enjoy.
Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.
mmmmm this bread pudding is the best!!! love the cinnamon roll spin!
I realized after I made mine that at least 457,000 other bloggers had had the idea, lol, but that’s ok…. it was still delicious, for all it’s unoriginality 😛
Think the third ingredient should read 1/2 cup sugar, not 12 cup sugar! Looks good though x
Lol, thanks for that catch. That would have made for an interesting pudding.
It’s been a long time since I have made bread pudding. You sold me with that glaze on top!