What makes it double chocolate-y? It comes from the bread AND the custard. I made a batch (3 loaves to be exact) of chocolate bread last week for the first time, and didn’t put in enough water. Needless to say my breads turned out a bit dry (delicious though!)… I don’t want to waste all these loaves of bread, so I decided to make them into this dessert– and it tastes much better. The pudding is very moisted, rich and chocolate-y, but not very sweet at all. I added a lot of dried tart cherries to balance the richness and it turns out great. This recipe calls for a large 8x12x2 pan. We only had 1/3 of it and gave the rest to friends and neighbors.
Double Chocolate Bread Pudding (makes one 8x12x2 rectangular glass baking pan)– adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk— see note below
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream— see note below
3/4 cup packed brown sugar— see note below
4 tbsp butter– cut into small pieces (optional)— see note below
8 oz bittersweet baking chocolate– break or chop into pieces— see note below
3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp golden rum (optional, adjust to taste)
6 cups day-old Chocolate Bread– cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups dried tart cherries
Chopped toasted nuts (walnut, almond, hazelnut etc…) for sprinkling on top (optional)
Method:
- Add milk, whipping cream and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add chocolate (and butter if used) and whisk until chocolate melts. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Arrange bread cubes and cherries in a 8x12x2 baking dish.
- Whisk together eggs and egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually add to the chocolate mixture. Whisk to blend well. Mix in vanilla extract and rum.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the bread cubes and let it soak for 15 minutes. Push the bread down into the custard so the bread is well soaked.
- Cover loosely with foil, and poke several hole on the top to allow steam to evaporate. Bake in preheated 325°F oven for 50-60 minutes, until the center is firm to touch.
- Cool bread pudding for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle toasted nuts on the top and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
Regina’s Note:
- Milk/heavy whipping cream: I happened to have heavy whipping cream on hand, but you can use all milk (2% is fine, which will be 3 cups total).
- Brown sugar: This bread pudding is not very sweet because I used bittersweet baking chocolate. If you would like a sweeter version, increase brown sugar to 1 cup.
- Butter: I used heavy whipping cream AND butter, and find the bread pudding is too rich. So I suggest opt out butter unless you use all milk.
- Bittersweet baking chocolate: Feel free to use semi-sweet if you prefer, or combined bittersweet (4 oz) and semi-sweet(4 oz), which brings out nice balance.
- For a orange chocolate bread pudding, replacing 1 cup of milk with orange juice and add in 1 tbsp orange zest maybe??