Saturday Brunch

I decided since Blake has to get up so early every morning with his new job, we would celebrate our second Saturday (and the joy of sleeping in) with a delicious brunch. My sister had a recipe for chocolate croissant bread pudding, but I decided to make a more brunchy version without the chocolate. So I substituted with cinnamon. You can't really go wrong with croissants, heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon, can you? Anyway, it was delicious! Maybe a little rich for breakfast, so you'd want some kind of fruit on the side and serve pretty small portions of the pudding. Even Blake couldn't pack it down like he can with French toast or pancakes or waffles. But I guess heavy cream is quite a bit richer than milk ...

Croissant Bread Pudding
makes one 9x13 in pan9-10 small day old croissants (I used "croissant pinwheels", which is why they circles and not crescents)
2 C heavy cream
2 C half-and-half
1 C sugar
6 eggs
pinch salt
2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut the croissants horizontally and layer in the baking dish.
2. In a medium sauce pan, bring the heavy cream, half-and-half, salt, and cinnamon to a simmer. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Once the heavy cream mixture is at a simmer, slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Don't let the eggs curdle.
3. Once combined, pour mixture over the croissants and let the croissants soak up the liquid.
4. Fill a bread pan with boiling water and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Place the croissants on the middle rack. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until set. Let cool a few minutes and serve warm. If a dessert, serve with vanilla ice cream. If a brunch item, serve with fruit on the side.