Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

Not only does the Brioche bread that I made yesterday make excellent French toast, but it also makes a wonderful bread pudding.  You can use it in a recipe of your own, but here is one that I find particularly tasty because it is sweet and chocolaty without being cloyingly so. 


Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

1 3/4 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup white chocolate chips

¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups cubed brioche bread

Preheat oven to 325°F. Bring cream, 1/2 cup sugar, and milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup white chocolate chips and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk egg and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot chocolate mixture. Cool chocolate custard 10 minutes, stirring often.

Add bread cubes and remaining 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips to custard and toss to coat. Transfer to 1 1/2-quart-capacity shallow oval baking dish. (I used two au gratin dishes.) Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over mixture. Bake until custard thickens and center is just set, about 50 minutes. Serve warm with a drizzle of melted chocolate, cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  


This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Sweets for a Saturday

Cast Party Wednesday

Show Me What Ya Got

ABM Brioche

I love a good brioche loaf, but they are hard to find in the immediate area, so when I get a taste for one (and French Toast and Bread Pudding), I whip one up in my bread machine.  Yes, this is a bread machine recipe, and it’s easy, no fail, and absolutely delicious.  The recipe is from One Hundred Bread Machine Recipes by Vicki Smallwood, a must for anyone who takes their bread machine as seriously as I do.

ABM Brioche

Ingredients

1 pinch saffron threads

1 tablespoon water, boiling

2 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons honey

2/3 cup hot water (100°F-105°F)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 ½ cups white bread flour

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

To Finish

1 eggs, beaten for brushing over

Directions

In a small bowl, soak the saffron threads in the 1 tablespoon of boiling water for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, place the beaten eggs, honey, hot water, and melted butter in a bowl. Mix well.  Add the saffron threads with the soaking water, stir and pour the mixture into the baking pan of your bread machine.  Mix the salt into the flour and add to the baking pan and spoon the yeast on top.  Set the program to 'DOUGH.'

When the dough is ready (mine takes 90 minutes), transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes. (The dough will feel quite soft and silky.).  Shape the dough into a loaf, place into a greased loaf pan, brush with oil, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.  Preheat the oven to 425°F.  When the dough has nearly doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap and lightly brush the top of the loaf with the beaten egg.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and leave it to cool before serving.

 This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Wild Wednesday