Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding Trifle

Read that blog title again.

No, you aren't dreaming, I'm for real! The title alone caught my attention with this recipe, i.e. had me glued to the screen for when the recipe was finally going to be shared!

I saw this recipe on Paula's Party a few weeks back. Katie Joel (Billy Joel's highly age inappropriate wife) came on the show to make it. My husband and I watched, and drooled, over this concoction. With everything in it it just had to be good!

I have a confession to make about the recipe...

It was even better than I imagined!!!!

Yes, it was just that good. This whole dessert was absolutely decadent from start to finish. I brought it to my best friend Michelle's house as she and her fiance had us over for dinner last weekend. Since the host half of our gracious host/hostess duo did not like butterscotch pudding I used chocolate pudding and I imagine it would be just as tantilizing with vanilla pudding.

My only complaint is that my whipped cream totally flattened out. I assembled the trifle in the morning and by the time we left the house it had flattened significantly. I'm not sure if this was caused by the weight of the bread pudding, or the fact that I used light whipped cream, or maybe even that I should have used more (which is my preferred theory, I love whipped cream).

I am also submitting this to Weekend Cookbook Challenge which monthly has a new theme - this month's theme is recipes seen on cooking shows. I participated in this challenge a few months ago when the theme was pressure cookers, slow cookers, and dutch ovens. With the amount of Food Network I watch, I knew meeting this month's challenge would be no difficulty!

Oh, and where did I find chocolate croissants you may ask? Au Bon Pain - since they have the best ones I know of!

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding Trifle

(from FoodNetwork.com / Paula's Party)

1 (6-ounce) box butterscotch pudding, cooked according to package directions
4 bananas, sliced
4 snicker bars, chopped fine
1 (12-ounce) container whipped topping

Let the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding (recipe below) cool to room temperature.

Into the trifle bowl, add half of the croissant pudding. Spread it out evenly. Scoop in half of the butterscotch pudding, add a layer of banana slices and half of the chopped snickers bars. Smooth on half of the whipped topping. Repeat the layers, ending on whipped cream, top with a final sprinkling of snickers.


Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding:

6 chocolate croissants, very coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Put chocolate croissant chunks in an 8-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and eggs. Pour mixture over croissants. Let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Bake for 40 minutes