Chocolate Bread Pudding

I love big hearty bread. I always buy too much of them at a bakery.
And, this leads to a serious problem - STALE BREAD.

Here is what I do with the stale bread.
I first freeze it. When I have enough of them, I bake bread pudding.

Bread pudding is a simple dessert that is very easy to make. Yet, because it is too simple, it can be a safe and boring dessert as well. To give it a little more character, I tried to add some flavor to it. You can add flavor to the bread pudding itself, or you can make beautiful sauce or ice cream to go with the bread pudding.

Today, I baked chocolate bread pudding. Dark chocolate and cocoa powder give a slightly bitter and not too sweet true chocolate flavor to this moist bread pudding.
The best bread for this recipe will be hard crusted baguette or rustic bread. Since the bread pudding is very moist, if you are using soft bread, the result will be a very soft 'pudding'. If that is what you are looking for, please go ahead and use challah bread or even soft sandwich bread. Just please keep in mind that whichever bread you use for this recipe, the bread needs to be dried out.

This bread pudding goes perfectly with banana ice cream... about which I am going to post soon. :)


CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING
YIELD: 8-10 servings / COOKING TIME: 1.5 hrs. (HANDS-ON COOKING TIME: 15 mins.)


INGREDIENTS


+ 6 cups bread cubes, dried on the counter overnight
+ 150g 75% dark chocolate, chopped
+ 2 cups heavy cream
+ 1 cup sugar
+ 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (or Dutch-Process Cocoa)
+ 4 large eggs
+ 2 egg yolks
+ 1 cup whole milk
+ 1/4 teaspoon salt


PROCEDURES



1. Combine the cream, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, and 100g chopped dark chocolate in a saucepan set over low heat. Stir well until the chocolate and sugar are melted. Turn off the heat.


2. Whisk four large eggs and two egg yolks, then add chocolate mixture from #1, milk, and salt. Whisk together to combine. This is the chocolate custard base.


3. Place the dried bread cubes in a baking dish, and sprinkle 50g chopped dark chocolate. Pour the chocolate custard base over it and push down the bread cubes to soak the chocolate custard base.


4. Let the bread mixture set at room temperature for 30 minutes so the custard base can be absorbed by the bread. While waiting, preheat your oven at 325°F (160°C).


5. Bake the bread pudding for 30 minutes, covered with a lid or cooking foil. Then bake again for about 10 minutes without cover.


Enjoy while it is still warm~