Tuesday, April 21, 2009

TWD--Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

Tuesday again!  That means all the members of the Tuesdays With Dorie group are making Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding from Dorie Greenspan's awesome book, Baking From My Home to Yours.  The recipe can be found on pages 410-11 in the book, but you can also get the recipe from Lauren at A Baking Blog (a.k.a. Upper East Side Chronicle).  Check it out, if you like bread pudding, this one's for you.

I don't recall ever having had bread pudding before.  I wasn't terribly excited to make this, but moreso because of the whole milk, heavy cream and lots of eggs!  Well, I decided to go ahead and make half the recipe and lots of lower fat substitutes.  Now that means I don't really know if this turned out how it should have or if something went wrong.  A half recipe made six perfectly full ramekins.

Ready for the oven after resting and begin beaten by a spoon. ;)

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The chocolate I ended up using was a dark chocolate bar with orange peel by Chocolove.  I thought the orange flavor would be really good.  The bar also had little bits of almond in it.  So I took it a step further and added some slivered almonds as well.  I only wish I'd have had some orange to add some zest, especially after tasting it--the orange flavor was quite subtle, but good!  This recipe was actually very simple to make.  I wish that meant more people (i.e. Kevin and boys) would have liked it more and eaten it all up.  (I made this on Sunday and there are still 2 1/2 ramekins full in the fridge.  I actually meant to offer some of this to Tes tonight, but completely forgot.

When I put them in the oven to bake, I wasn't sure how long to bake the little dishes, so I set the timer for 15 minutes to start.  Somehow someone turned the timer off at some point and as I went about other things, realized it wasn't set and I had no idea how long it had been baking.  A knife inserted in the center came out clean, so I called it good.

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I also added the dried cherries as well as some orange flavored dried cranberries.  I really liked it having eaten about 1/4 of one.  Scott ate all of his, Parker, Taylor and Sam tasted it and didn't like it and Kevin took a few courtesy bites for me.  He said it wasn't bad, just not his thing.  Scott liked it, but mentioned that there were too many nuts.  I really liked the chew from the nuts and dried fruit, but it may have had a little too much.  The custard part wasn't super creamy and there was a lot of bread (maybe too much?  I measured the bread on my scale to get 6 ounces.)  I used part of a loaf of Italian sweet bread that I found at the local grocery store bakery.  No brioche or challah to be found nearby!  So the short of it is--I liked it, but would go for something else chocolate if I had to choose.

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I was out of whipped cream, but did serve this with a little added Cool Whip.  Ahh, even better now.

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Here is the recipe as I made it.

Chocolate Bread Pudding, adapted by Katrina from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

6 ounces Italian Sweet Bread

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup orange flavored dried cranberries

1  1/2 cups fat free milk

1/2 cup heavy cream (I wish I would have just used 2% milk or something)

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Egg Beaters with touch of yolk

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3.2 oz. bar of Chocolove Orange Peel 55% Dark Chocolate, chopped

2 oz. bar of Lindt Orange Extreme Dark Chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Have six ramekins ready and a roasting pan big enough to hold them.

Cut the bread in to 1 inch cubes.  Spread it out on a baking sheet and bake  in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.   Toss into a bowl with the fruit and nuts. 

Bring the milk and cream just to a boil.

Fill a pot or teakettle with water and put it on to boil.  When the water boils, turn off the heat.  Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolk and sugar together in a bowl.  While whisking, slowly drizzle in a little of the hot milk mixture to temper the eggs so they don't curdle.  While continuing to whisk, slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk.  Add the chopped chocolate and whisk it in gently until it is melted and the custard is smooth.  Pour the custard in with the bread pieces.   With a ladle, spoon enough of the custard-bread mixture into each ramekin to fill them.  Let sit on counter for 30 minutes. (I actually only did about 15 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put each of the ramekins into the roasting pan, line the sides of the pan with paper towel and carefully pour water into the pan to fill it about half way up the sides of the ramekins.  Bake for 15 minutes (then test with a knife inserted in the center to see if it comes out clean).  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.   Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. 

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Does that look correct?  I really have no idea, but I personally liked the combination of flavors and I like that it still worked great with all the lower fat substitutions.  At any rate, it was fun to make it and I can now say I've made and tasted bread pudding and CHOCOLATE at that! ;)  Thanks for the great pick, Lauren.  Check out Dorie's REAL recipe on the link to Lauren's blog above and go check out all the other bread puddings out there on the  Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll. 

29 comments:

Pamela said...

I'm with you in that I've never eaten or made it before. It was good, but there are other desserts I would choose given the chance. Nice job, though!

Amanda said...

I am a fan on vanilla custard bread pudding, but I really liked this one too. It was even better drizzled with chocolate sauce or cream anglaise!

Anne said...

It looks yummy with the cream on top! I'd give a breakfast version a try... I'd never choose bread pudding for dessert but it's a fun change for breakfast sometimes. Good job adapting the recipe!

Megan said...

Send all the leftovers to me please. Because I'll gladly eat it all!

vibi said...

No, no... you were right Katrina, bread pudding is, that much bread. It was not supposed to be custardy, nor creamy... so in the end I'm glad you semi? enjoyed it, for you did an excellent job on it! That's just the way it's supposed to be! Okay, well... without the nuts! LOL

Cathy said...

I think yours looks perfect. Mine might have been a little TOO dry. This is not an all-time favorite of mine, but I did enjoy it. I love your adaptations!

chocolatechic said...

It looks fabulous.

I am going to make a sauce for mine.

Kayte said...

Well, I have to say, it all looks beautifully delicious. I was afraid (after the rice pudding fiasco over here) that my boys would not eat this either as they indicated such, so I opted out and made...well, you will see when you visit...LOL! I love that dollop of whipped cream and so much fun to hear your variations. Great job. (Despite the house critics, right?)

Eliana said...

This bread pudding looks great. I prefer full fat (and a smaller piece) but it seems that your version turned out quite nice. I'll try it one day to check out the difference. Great job.

mike said...

Wow - this looks fantastic - love your additions! It WAS rather plain - I should have tried the cherries... nicely done!

Elyse said...

Mmm, I have to say that your bread pudding looks super yummy!! I'm a big full-fat bread pudding fan (I know, I know...so unhealthy), but your healthier version looks totally delicious!! I would've eaten one of your leftover ramekins for sure--in fact, I might have eaten both!

Brownie Power said...

This looks yummy! I will have to bake this bread pudding tonight.

Heather said...

Beautiful picture, and I like your modifications. Looks great!

Jennifer said...

Your chocolate bar with orange and almonds sounds delicious. It's too bad your family didn't enjoy it.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

interesting combination! I love chocolate and orange together so I bet I would have helped finish off your extras! :)

noble pig said...

I love choc bread pudding! So this would be wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Your bread pudding looks great! I like the changes/additions you made.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I really like when you do low fat versions! And yes, that does look right to me, I think you did great!

Engineer Baker said...

All the add-ins sound wonderful - I really liked all the bits of fruit throughout, so I wish I had put more in. It looks pretty fantastic!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

You know I am on board with your lower fat substitutions. I'm perfectly happy with custard that way. Your bread puddings look and sound fantastic, but then I really like bread pudding. And, yes, things like this do tend to improve with Cool Whip, don't they?
Nancy

Unknown said...

I had never made or eaten bread pudding before either. I thought this recipe was delicious! Your variation looks wonderful.

Emily said...

Well the bread pudding looks very delicious to me! I love the chocolate cherry idea.

Anonymous said...

This wasn't a big hit for me either, but I think your nut and orange flavor additions sound good!

Carla said...

I made bread pudding once before, but honestly I have no idea what it's supposed to taste like. I just know it tasted good haha I think I might take your idea and bake in ramekins so I can somehow cut it down into two ramekin servings. I halved it for an 8x8 pan, but still too much for my family to eat.

Looks delicious though!

Anne Marie said...

That snake pizza is a great idea. I'll have to try it sometime. Your kiddos are adorable! I can't believe how big Sammy's getting. So cute. I just want to kiss his cheeks.

TeaLady said...

A beautiful spoonful of yum!

Jaime said...

i'm surprised by how many people have not had bread pudding before! i really like whiskey bread pudding the best

Jules Someone said...

That looks lovely. I like the idea of using the orange chocolate. Nice!

test it comm said...

I like the individual servings!