Sweet Almond Bread Pudding w/ out Raspberry Sauce {SMS}

This week's recipe of Sweet Almond Bread Pudding with Raspberry Sauce was chosen by Candace of Candy Girl. The recipe calls for brioche, but she couldn't find it, so she substituted that ingredient for challah bread. And boy does her bread pudding look delicious! Since I no longer live in a diverse area of Southern California, it's difficult for me to find great ethnic ingredients that are local. Normally I would have to drive to Pasadena, or Los Angeles to find special ingredients, but this time I forgot to pick up a loaf while dining at the BREADBAR in Century City. Yeah, that's right, I was at the BREADBAR and didn't even pick up a loaf of brioche, or challah. I could kick myself. Well, I substituted brioche for good ol' croissants. I used a dozen croissants, reduced the custard mixture in half and added Frangelico. I also skipped making the raspberry sauce. The results? A delicious, moist custardy pudding, with a flaky, buttery top. I may try making either a chocolate sauce, or hazelnut cream sauce to top the rest of this bread pudding, but honestly, it's fine without sauce. This recipe was super easy to make and one that I will try again. Always playing with the ingredients to try new taste.