Buttery, flakey croissants and tender cinnamon-spiced pears baked in a creamy custard and drizzled with rich homemade toffee sauce!
Since apples are basically the official fruit of fall, pears don’t quite get the credit they deserve. Sure, they might not be as crisp or vibrantly-colored as apples, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t taste just as incredible when baked into desserts and delicious pastries.In fact, one of my most popular recipes is my Fresh Pear Cake with Whipped Brown Sugar Buttercream.
With that being said, there was no doubt in my mind that it was definitely time to combine the under-appreciated sweetness of pears with the warm comfort of bread pudding.
This Pear Bread Pudding is to-flipping-die-for, people. It’s made with buttery croissants that have been soaked in a rich autumnal-spiced custard and lusciously tender brown sugary-sweetened pears. It’s also drenched in the most DIVINE toffee sauce. Seriously guys, I would bathe in this stuff if I could.
Although I’ve had plenty of luck using heartier breads like baguettes and rustic loafs, I still prefer croissants over everything else in my bread pudding. Not only are they much fluffier and flakier than your average baguette or bag of sliced bread, but they have a way of really soaking up all that delicious custard, creating an almost melt-in-your-mouth texture once it’s been baked.
If you’ve made bread pudding before, you know that the key to great bread pudding is using dry/stale bread. It might sound counterintuitive since we always think of fresh as best, but dry bread ensures that the bread soaks up every delicious drop of that rich custard.
If you find that your bread isn’t quite on the stale side, you can always use the oven method to dry out your bread. Simply scatter your torn-up bread into an even layer on a baking sheet, then dry/toast in a preheated 350ºF oven for 8-10 minutes. It’s ok if they get a little toasted–just make sure they don’t get too dark!
Now let’s talk custard, aka, the sweet liquid the bread is soaked in. Not only does the custard contain most of the flavor, but it makes this bread pudding EXTRA moist.As with most of my bread pudding recipes, I prefer to use an equal ratio of heavy cream and milk in my custard base. I also like to remove most of the egg whites from the eggs to eliminate any eggy sulfuric flavor that might result after baking. I’ve found that one full egg and 3 egg yolks is perfect. For sweetness, I added 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. To round out the delicious flavors of this custard, a dash of salt, a splash of vanilla, and a variety of fall spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice) are added.
Of course, we can’t forget about the STAR ingredient of this autumnal beauty…the pears.
To ensure that the pears weren’t hard or under-cooked after baking in the oven, I decided to pre-cook them. Cooking the pearsprior to folding them into the bread pudding is absolutely KEY to achieving that perfect, lusciously tender texture. Seeing as the baking time for this bread pudding isn’t long enough to cook the pears all the way through, I pre-cooked them in some butter, brown sugar, water, and cinnamon until softened and almost translucent. Try not to overcook them though, or you’ll end up with mushy pears! The pears should be firm, yet soft enough that there’s a little give when you press on them with a wooden spoon.
Now that you’ve got your custard, pre-cooked pears, and dry croissants, toss everything together in a large mixing bowl. Make sure that every piece of croissant is completely saturated in that beautiful custard before pouring it into the baking dish.
As far as soaking time goes, I like to soak my bread pudding overnight. While 1-2 hours is definitely adequate, I’ve found that the longer you let the bread soak in the custard, the more the flavors are able to develop since the ingredients have had plenty of time to “mingle”. If you do decide to take the overnight route, I would recommend taking the bread pudding out of the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking to take some of the chill off.
Just before baking the bread pudding, I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon-sugar on top. This not only creates that super thin, delicately crisp crust on top of the bread pudding, but it also adds a little extra sweetness which is NEVER a bad thing.
While the bread pudding is baking in the oven, you’ll make the toffee sauce.
To be honest though, it’s more like liquid crack…
Even though my first love is caramel, there’s just something about the buttery maple sweetness of toffee. And as opposed to homemade caramel sauce which is somewhat finicky and requires a longer cooking time, toffee sauce is VERY low maintenance.
All you have to do is throw some butter, brown sugar, and honey into a saucepan, cook it until it starts to boil and foam, pour in some heavy cream, then stir until silky smooth. Honestly, I don’t know why I don’t make this stuff more often just so I can down a shot of toffee sauce whenever I feel like it.
Buttery, flakey croissants and tender cinnamon-spiced pears baked in a creamy custard and drizzled with rich homemade toffee sauce!
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Prep Time 45 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Soaking Time 1 hour hr
Total Time 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 7 Servings
Ingredients
- 13 ounces croissants, torn (about 5 croissants)
Spiced Pears:
- 9 ounces peeled and diced pears
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Custard:
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
For Topping:
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Toffee Sauce:
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees. Scatter the torn croissants evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until dry and toasted, about 8-10 minutes.* Allow croissants to cool while you prepare the apples and custard.
Prepare the Spiced Pears:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the pears, water, brown sugar, and butter together until the pears have softened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove and set aside to cool slightly.
Make the Custard:
In a large bowl, whisk both sugars, the egg yolks, egg, vanilla, salt, and spices together until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream and milk until combined. Gently fold in the croissants, followed by the spiced pears.
Pour mixture into a greased 8-inch square baking dish, gently pressing down on the bread to ensure all the pieces are fully saturated in the custard. Allow to sit and soak for at least an hour**.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the bread pudding. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and toasty.
Make the Toffee Sauce:
In a medium saucepan, stir the brown sugar, honey, and butter over medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil and foam. Let the mixture bubble for 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream. Increase heat to medium and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the sauce is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
To Serve:
Slice/scoop bread pudding into bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and enjoy!
Notes
*If your croissants are already dry/stale, you can skip this baking step.
**You can also prepare this bread pudding the night before, allow it to soak overnight, then bake it in the oven the next day.
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AppleAutumncomfort dessertsFallFruitThanksgiving
