Roasted Pear and Croissant Bread Pudding

7 eggs
1½ cups sugar
¼ cup honey
2 cups heavy cream
3 pears
8 croissants
¾ cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325ºF. In a large mixing bowl, blend the eggs, sugar, honey and heavy cream with an immersion blender. Peel and dice the pears into ½ inch cubes. Cut or tear the croissants into large pieces. Combine the pears, croissants and coconut. Pour the cream mixture over the pears and bread, and toss to coat. Press into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Cover with parchment paper and then cover with foil. Place pan in a larger baking pan and fill with enough water to come ¼ inch up the sides of the pan with the bread pudding. Bake for one hour. Uncover and remove from the water bath. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until just golden. Serve warm with Crème Anglaise.

Crème Anglaise
1 quart cream
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
8 egg yolks

Combine the cream, ½ cup sugar and the vanilla bean in a stock pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Separately mix the remaining ½ cup sugar and the egg yolk in a stainless bowl. Slowly temper this mixture by adding small amounts of the warm cream mixture, careful not to cook the yolks. Strain into a clean pot and return to medium heat. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the mixture thickens enough to coat the spatula. Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

Chef Paul Mattison, Executive Chef and Proprietor of Mattison’s
®Chef Paul Mattison, 2014

More recipes in the cookbook Chef! The Stories and Recipes of Chef Paul Mattison.
Order Chef! online, purchase at Mattison’s Forty-One, another local retail outlet, or purchase E-Book on Amazon.com