Chocolate-Walnut Bread Pudding

Category: Desserts & Sweets | Blog URL: http://www.consciousfeast.com/2009/11/chocolatewalnut-bread-pudding/

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Nicole Aloni

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 cups cubed, stale French bread or challah (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 1/2 cups half-and-half

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Generous pinch of kosher salt

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, like Dagoba or Theo

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey, please)

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (optional)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Generously butter a 2-quart soufflé dish (or 6 ramekins).

Use a large, heavy knife to chop the chocolate into morsel or “chip” size pieces.

Place the bread in the soufflé dish and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the chopped chocolate and walnuts. Set aside.

Heat the half-and-half, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn the heat off and add the remaining bittersweet chocolate bits, whisking until smooth.

In a large bowk, lightly beat the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and Grand Marnier (if using). Add the chocolate mixture slowly, while whisking, until well-blended.

Pour the mixture over the bread and stir a little to distribute. Let soak at room temperature for at least 2 hours or overnight, pressing the bread down occasionally.

Set the soufflé dish in a larger baking dish. Add enough water to the larger dish to come halfway up the sides of the soufflé dish. Bake for about 30 minutes until the edge is set but the center is still slightly loose. Cool on a rack; it will continue to set as it cools. Serve warm with Crème Anglaise or vanilla ice cream.

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About

worked on chocolate bread pudding recipes for years before finally getting what I envisioned—this recipe. It’s crunchy-chewy on top with a molten chocolate texture underneath. Deelish!

Though bread pudding recipes were certainly invented to make use of leftover bread, there is nothing “make-do” about this dessert. And there are lots more of my favorite comfort recipes that have resulted from this prudent approach to the larder: mushroom and Gruyere strata, cinnamon-apple bread pudding, carrot-pecan bread pudding and Italian sausage strata, to name a few. Most of these unctuous, hearty recipes will be posted here as winter settles into my kitchen.

EASE OF PREPARATION: A snap