Entertaining with Beth

Preheat oven to 375F.

Tear croissants into bite-sized pieces. Place them in your 12" baking vessel to see how many you will need to fill it generously (the croissants will shrink down a bit once the custard is poured and absorbed) it should take between 6-8 croissants).

Then transfer them to a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes or until toasty and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, orange zest and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl add the raisins and squeeze the orange juice from the zested overage, over the top. Let sit for 5-8 minutes. Then drain.

Grease the 12' inch skillet, or oven-safe baking dish with butter. Place the cooled croissants in the skillet, then sprinkle the drained raisins throughout.

Then ladle the custard mixture over the top until well distributed.

Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

To bake place the skillet uncovered on the lower rack or your oven. (so the croissants don't burn) in a 350F oven for 40-45 minutes just until there is no longer any liquid custard coming up through the croissants.

If the pudding is getting too browned and liquid is still visible, cover with foil until baked through.

For the caramel Sauce: Place the sugar in a medium-sized pot on high heat. Do not walk away. Let the sugar melt and turn amber brown, moving the pot over the heat until melted. If need be you can help it along with a non-stick whisk.

Then turn off the heat, and whisk in the butter and heavy cream. And refrigerate until ready to serve. Reheating on the stove top or microwave.

Serve the pudding oven to table. Dust the baked pudding with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream and the caramel sauce.