3 lg Eggs
1 1/4 c Sugar
1 1/2 ts Vanilla extract; plus
1 ts (for the whipped cream)
1 1/4 ts Grated nutmeg (or ground
-nutmeg)
1 1/4 ts Ground cinnamon
4 tb Unsalted butter; melted
2 c Milk
1/2 c Chopped walnuts or other
-nuts
1/2 c Chopped chocolate or chips;
-about 4 ounces
5 c Very stale and dry bread in
-3/4″ to 1″ cubes
1 pt Heavy cream
Powdered sugar to taste
I cook frequently for friends and chocolate bread pudding is what I call a
cheating dessert – I know it’s going to get applause!
This recipe is a variation on Paul Prudhome’s recipe from his video
entitled “Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen.’ It has the basic bread
pudding recipe. All I do is add some chopped up good chocolate or chocolate
chips. Another good thing to do is to use chocolate bread. I’ve seen
chocolate bread in Grain d’Or bakeries.
It’s important that the bread cubes are really dry so that they soak up
the milk and egg mixture before you bake it. If the bread isn’t really
stale, cut it into cubes and put it on a cookie sheet in a 200 degree over
for an hour and a half, stirring them a couple of times.
Beat the eggs on high speed in an electric mixer for about three minutes,
or by hand by a person with strong arms for about six minutes. Prudhomme
describes the eggs as having pinhead size bubbles. Add the sugar, 1 1/2
tsp. of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter. Beat for a minute until well
blended. Add the milk, nuts and chocolate and mix.
Grease or butter a bread or lasagne pan that is just large enough to hold
all the bread cubes. Put the bread into the pan and pour the egg and milk
mixture over it. Stir it up a couple of times.
At this point, PP recommends letting it sit for 45 minutes, but we busy
yuppies can’t wait around like that. Turn the oven to 350 degrees and stir
the pudding again. When the oven is hot, stir the pudding one last time and
put it in the oven. Immediately lower the temperature to 300 degrees.
After 40 minutes, turn the oven up to 425 degrees and let it bake another
15 to 20 minutes.
While the pudding is baking, whip the cream with the rest of the vanilla
and powdered sugar to taste. Since the pudding is sweet, I like to keep the
cream light, and I don’t whip it to the point that it gets stiff. It’s
going to melt on the hot pudding anyway, and it has more body if it is kept
a little creamy.
When you take this pudding out of the oven all the chocolate fanatics in
the house will be swooning. The aroma is incredible. It’s not as
complicated as the recipe seems, mostly because it’s pretty foolproof. This
is one of those recipes where even if you make a mistake, like if the top
burns a little, or if you don’t beat the eggs enough, it may not be perfect
~ but I’ll guarantee it won’t get thrown away!
HORNMAN@NETCOM.COM
(SCOTT HARTMAN)
REC.FOOD.RECIPES
From rec.food.cooking archives. Downloaded from Glen’s MM Recipe Archive,
Yields
12 Servings