Cheat’s Coffee Cardamom Almond Croissant

It wasn’t until recently that I found out almond croissants are made with stale plain croissants, smothered with delicious frangipane and bake again to give it a second life.

I’ve never been one to buy croissants from the supermarket, but after finding this out, I thought it was a great way to level up a mediocre product, making it exciting and new.

Make this for any breakfast feast or brunch - it’ll look look like you spent hours making it, when in fact, it took you 20 mins.

Ingredients

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp cardamom pods, lightly bashed

30g butter, softened

1/2 cup (73g) + 4 tbsp light brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup (150g) almond meal

1 tbsp flour

2 tsp very strong coffee

4 stale croissants, cut in half lengthways

flaked almonds

Powdered/icing sugar

Method

1. In a pot on medium-low heat, add the sugar, water and cardamom pods. Let it come to a simmer and dissolve the sugar fully. Once dissolved, take it off the heat and let the cardamom infuse, and the syrup cool completely.

2. In a bowl, combine the softened butter, light brown sugar, egg, salt, almond meal, flour and coffee. Stir until fully incorporated. Pre-heat the oven to fan 180°C

3. Brush the cut halves of each croissant with the cardamom syrup, then slather an even layer of the almond meal mixture (frangipane) onto the bottom half, making sure to have some frangipane leftover.

4. Close the croissants, and spread the leftover frangipane onto the tops of the croissant, finish with a sprinkle of flaked almonds.

5. Place the croissants onto a baking tray, and bake for 15-20 mins, or until the flaked almonds have gone golden, and the frangipane has set.

6. Let cool slightly, then dust with some powdered sugar.