Recipe by Catherine Brown for Wyman's
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Wyman's Wild Blueberry Powder
- 4 extra-large local free-range eggs
- 8 extra-large local free-range egg yolks
- 3 cups of whole milk
- 4 cups heavy cream, divided
- 1 1/2 cups, plus 1/4 cup maple syrup (light amber)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- *6-10 croissants, toasted and stale
- 6 T butter, salted (2T softened, the rest cold)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, whole milk, 2 cups of heavy cream, maple syrup, vanilla and blueberry powder. Set this custard mixture aside. Tear the croissants into bite-sized pieces. Generously grease a medium oval baking dish (approx. 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch) with 2T of softened butter. Distribute the croissants pieces evenly in the baking dish. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently. Cut the remaining 4T of cold butter into small cubes and evenly distribute over the top of the pudding.
- Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
- While the pudding is baking, add the remaining 2 cups of COLD heavy cream to the chilled bowl and beaters of a stand or hand mixing bowl. Whip until soft peaks form, then add the remaining 1/4 cup of maple syrup and continue whipping until stiff peaks form (additional 1-2 minutes).
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream sprinkled with additional wild blueberry powder!
NOTES:
- *The number of croissants depends on the sized used. If they are large croissants, 6-8 should suffice.
- The five cups of dairy used to make the custard could be all half and half instead of the whole milk/heavy cream combo I used.
- One cup of dried blueberries would be a lovely addition to the pudding (layering them with the torn croissant pieces but avoiding having them on top to prevent burning while baking).
- Fresh Wild Maine Blueberries sprinkled on top of each serving before adding the dollop of whipped cream would be even more impressive and also improve the color of the finished dessert.
- If using both additional wild blueberries (fresh and/or dried), less wild blueberry powder can be used. I wanted the flavor of the wild blueberries to be prominent, which required a full cup without additional form of the fruit.
Photographs by Julie Balsamo, MS, RDN
