Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

Using croissants as the bread in bread pudding is even better than you might imagine: The chocolate custard seeps right in between the layers of flaky pastry. And croissants are almost all crust, always the best part of the bread pudding. The dessert is chocolatey, buttery, creamy and flaky all at once. I started doing this when I worked at a country house hotel in England, Stapleford Park Hotel, where we always had leftover baked croissants from breakfast. Cooking with stale bread or croissants is a handy and sensible quick-trick; I love to use it up instead of throw it away. Bread or croissants that are a couple of days old is more firm and absorbent than fresh, so it's always the choice for bread puddings that are moist without falling apart completely. The croissant-cream mixture can be refrigerated, covered, up to one day in advance. If so, add five to 10 minutes to the baking time.