Nigella's

More often than not, most of my impulsive purchases of cook books & mags are due to those captivating & to die for food photography.
At least, if the recipes are crap; I have those lovely pix to drool after as a consolation.
But books from famous celebrity chefs require no hesitation, where parting with my hard earn moola are concerned. I will buy books after books, especially those that are highly recommended.

My latest acquisition is Nigella Express.
I would rave more about this book when compared with her earlier publications. Reason being, almost every recipe in this hardcover is accompanied with a pix.
No more visualizing what the end result will look like. *Yeah !!!*
And I managed to read the book from front to back in one sitting.

This croissant thingy is the 1st recipe I tried making from the book.
It’s like a caramel version of bread & butter pudding without the yeasty taste. Buttery croissant gets very crispy & gloriously golden after 20 mins in the oven. Not forgetting the wonderful aroma the bake releases while baking.

Nigella claimed that she came up with this pudding cuz she wanted to get rid of her stale croissants.
I, on the other hand, went out to Delifrance & bought fresh ones plus a bottle of thicken cream.
The recipe stated both milk & cream for the liquid ingredient but I used all cream instead, resulting a creamier & more luscious pudding.
I omitted the liqueur cuz elf’s eating.

Overall, I am pleased with the result. Just a word of caution, this is definitely not hip friendly.
But it’s really yummy, so I’m gonna post the recipe here for U to try.

Caramel Croissant Pudding
(Adapted from Nigella Express) (N: Nigella’s words)

What U need:

• 2 Stale croissants
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 2 x 15ml tbsp Water
• 125ml Double cream
• 125ml Full-fat milk
• 2 x 15ml tbsp Bourbon
• 2 eggs - beaten

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Tear the croissants into pieces and put in a small gratin dish.
   (N: I use a cast iron oval one with a capacity of about 500ml for this)
3. Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over a medium to high heat.
4. Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, without stirring, until it all turns a deep amber colour; this will take 3 to 5 minutes.
   (N: Keep looking but don’t be too timid).
5. Turn the heat down to low and add the cream – ignoring all spluttering – and, whisking away, the milk and bourbon. Any solid toffee that forms in the pan will dissolve easily if you keep whisking over a low heat. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten eggs. Pour the caramel bourbon custard over the croissants and leave to steep for 10 minutes if the croissants are very stale.
6. Place in the oven for 20 minutes and prepare to swoon.