Chocolate Bread Pudding with Raspberry Sauce (Warm + Decadent!)
Chocolate Bread Pudding is a warm and decadent dessert of bread cubes soaked in a rich chocolate custard and then layered with more chocolate before being baked and served with a drizzle of raspberry sauce!
½teaspooninstant coffee granules OR espresso powder
4eggsat room temperature
¾cupfirmly packed brown sugar
2teaspoonspure vanilla extract
1 ½cupswhole milkat room temperature
1cupheavy creamat room temperature
6cupscubed stale French bread
½cupseedless raspberry jamwarmed and stirred until thin and pourable
Fresh whipped cream
Instructions
Melt 1 cup chocolate chips by putting in microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each interval until smooth (it should take about 1 ½ minutes total for chocolate to melt). Stir instant coffee granules into warm melted chocolate and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Beat in brown sugar and vanilla. Blend in cooled, melted chocolate until mixture is very smooth. Gradually stir in milk and cream and mix well. Fold bread cubes into milk mixture and set aside to soak for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that bread is evenly soaked.
While bread is soaking, preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-cup capacity baking dish (such as an 8- by 8-inch square dish or a deep 9-inch round dish) with butter.
Scoop half of the soaked bread mixture into prepared baking dish. Evenly sprinkle with ¾ cup chocolate chips. Pour remaining soaked bread on top of chocolate chips and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips on top.
Bake for about an hour or until center is set. Start checking for doneness at about the 45 minute mark and then every 5 minutes thereafter.
Drizzle raspberry jam over the top of the bread pudding and onto serving plates, if desired. Serve warm with whipped cream.
Notes
To lighten up this recipe, all milk may be used in place of the heavy cream. Also, 2% milk may be substituted for whole milk.
VERY IMPORTANT -- all ingredients should be at room temperature so that the melted chocolate does not re-solidify when it hits cold milk/cream/eggs.
You may decrease or omit the coffee/espresso granules if you are afraid of tasting them, but they mainly serve to enhance the flavor of the chocolate.
You may opt to drizzle your Chocolate Bread Pudding with chocolate sauce or raspberry sauce instead of caramel sauce.
TO MAKE WHIPPED CREAM: (1.) Using the wire whisk attachment(s) of an electric mixer, beat½ cupchilledheavy creamat medium speed until soft peaks begin to appear. (2.) Sprinkle2 tablespoons powdered sugarand½ teaspoon vanilla extractover the whipped cream. (3.) Beat at medium-high speed until stiff peaks just form. (Be careful not to overbeat or you'll end up with butter instead of whipped cream!) TIP:Whipped cream beats up the fluffiest when your heavy cream, your whisk, and your bowl are all chilled.
Variation ~ KAHLUA CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING: In the Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe, replace ½ cup of the milk with ½ cup Kahlua coffee liqueur. And for a Kahlua Whipped Cream garnish, add 1 teaspoon of Kahlua (or more, to taste) at the same time as the vanilla in the above whipped cream directions.