My best mate had a pretty bad week last week, so I suggested she take a couple days off and visit – for the cure. Part of that was her first visit to The Butterfly Place, where I took plenty of photos yesterday that’ll be in my next post (update: it’s here), and then the delectable popcorn shrimp and catfish at Border Cafe, a small chain that first opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Another part was a delicious dessert we hadn’t made for years, James Martin’s Croissant Butter Pudding with white chocolate and bourbon. Costco had a great deal on their high-quality all-butter croissants a couple weeks ago – their “let’s clear just 3 or 4 cents per croissant” price was US$4.99 a dozen – so I had those in the freezer and brought four out for this. Like most breads, croissants freeze and thaw beautifully.
Post-blowtorch with a bruléed crust; click for a larger version
This is how Martin serves it in a restaurant setting; click for a larger version
I first saw Martin make this in his BBC “Sweet Baby James” series in 2007, so we reviewed episode 4 last night and I dug out his Desserts cookbook for the weights and measures. The croissant portion of that episode happens to be on YouTube:
He hasn’t changed it much over the years – here he is making it again in his 2013 series “United Cakes of America” on the Good Food Channel:
Ahhh what could the butterfly place be ?
I remember that croissant white chocolate butter pudding ! Totally decadent ! me I had my cousin, his wife and their three kids over this morning. Made little squares of French toast w lots of lemon zest and roast pears. Pretty yummy ! When three kids aged 2, 4 and 5 down every piece, it feels like you have won the lottery !