16 March 2014 Individual Chocolate Challah Bread Pudding

Individual Chocolate Challah Bread Pudding

March 16, 2014 By
Bread Soaking

Bread Soaking

Challah Bread

Challah Bread

Rich buttery Challah bread, egg custard and chocolate – what could be better? To make this delicious bread pudding a bit more elegant for a recent dinner party, I baked it in individual ramekins.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 pint half-and-half
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 loaf unseeded, day old Challah bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • ½ cup dulce de leche
Unbaked Bread Pudding

Unbaked Bread Pudding

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Butter eight 4.5-ounce ramekins.
  3. In a medium saucepan, bring the half-and-half, cream and sugar to a slow boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually add the warm cream mixture to the eggs and whisk until completely combined. Add the bread cubes to the custard and push them down to ensure they’re covered. Allow the bread to soak up the custard for 30-45 minutes.
  5. Ladle the custard and bread into the ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
  6. To serve, drizzle dulce de leche onto the bread puddings and top with a scoop of ice cream.

Serves 8.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts, Eggs, French Tagged With: , , ,
8 August 2012 Croissant and Chocolate Bread Pudding

Croissant and Chocolate Bread Pudding

August 8, 2012 By

We all know what a comforting dish bread pudding is, and in this recipe, croissant and high-quality chocolate put a luxurious twist on the modest original. I urge you to splurge on good chocolate for this recipe – it is well worth it.

Ingredients:

  • 6  egg yolks
  • 1 1/2  cups  whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups  heavy cream
  • 1 cup  granulated sugar
  • 2 Tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2  tsp. sea salt
  • 8 day-old butter croissants, cubed into 1-inch pieces
  • 3.5 ounces  dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 3.5 ounces  milk chocolate, broken into pieces

Before Baking

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Coat an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
  3. Whisk the egg yolks, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Add the croissant pieces and the chocolates. Using a large spoon, ensure all the croissant pieces are coated with the cream mixture. Let absorb for 20 minutes.
  4. Pour the croissant and cream mixture in the coated baking dish and bake for 35 minutes.

Yields 8 servings (or 6 at my house).

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts, Eggs Tagged With: , , , , ,
8 November 2011 Raspberry Croissant Bread Pudding

Raspberry Croissant Bread Pudding

November 8, 2011 By

I recently attended a berry virtual tasting hosted by Driscoll’s and WineTwits and created the following recipe to share with the group.  The results are just as tasty when blackberries are used.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cup half and half
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract
  • 4 croissants, cut into1/2” cubes
  • 1 6-ounce container of fresh raspberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
  2. Heat cream and half and half in a saucepan over medium heat until just simmering.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, ¾ cup sugar and vanilla until well combined.  Add a ladleful of hot cream to the egg mixture and whisk well to bring up the temperature of the eggs.  Add the rest of the cream to the egg custard and whisk well.
  4. Add the cubed croissants to the custard and gently push down the cubes into the liquid to ensure they absorb as much custard as possible.  Set aside for 20 minutes.
  5. Lightly coat four 10-ounce ramekins with cooking spray.  Add two raspberries to each ramekin then divide the bread and custard mixture between the four dishes.  Divide the remaining raspberries amount the dishes and sprinkle each with the rest of the sugar, about one teaspoon each.
  6. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for about 35 minutes, until puddings are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.  Serve while still warm with a drizzle of Blackberry Balsamic Coulis and/or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes 4 servings.

Filed Under: American, Canadian, Desserts, Eggs, French, Fruits Tagged With: , , , ,