The first time I had this delectable dessert was on a cruise ship. Let’s just say it was love at first taste. I knew I could…no…had to duplicate the recipe as soon as we returned from our vacation.
This is one of my favorites and I’m happy to share my recipe with all my Sweeties! I promise it’s not a challenging recipe…there is one step where it would be nice if you had an extra set of hands…but after that, it’s smooth sailing…in a pool of chocolate sauce! YUM!
This bread pudding is made with the some of the best quality chocolate bars and that’s very important. I don’t like to skimp on my recipes unless it’s a test recipe. I don’t care what anyone says, I can taste low quality ingredients. I would never sale nor serve my Sweeties anything but the absolute BEST! The semi-sweet chocolate plays an important part in this because it balances the sweetness of the white chocolate. However, the real MVP of this recipe is the most perfect, soft, buttery challah bread. For garnish you can add a fresh strawberry or two like I did. No one will deny this perfectly sweet, warm, comforting bread pudding.
Bitter and Blanc Bread Pudding
1 loaf (about 8oz) Challah bread, cut into 1-in pieces
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole-fat milk
18oz quality white chocolate baking bar chopped (such as Ghirardelli or Baker’s)
6oz quality semi-sweet baking bar coarsely chopped (such as Ghirardelli or Baker’s)
6 large egg yokes
3 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 275F. Arrange bread cubes on a baking sheet bake until lightly golden and a bit crusty, about 12mins; Cool completely. Increase oven temp to 350F.
Combine 3 cups of heavy cream, 1 cup of milk, and the 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add about 10oz white chocolate ( about 1 1/3 cups) stir until melted and smooth. Wisk eggs and yokes in a large bowl to blend. *this is where another set of hands could be handy…pun intended.* GRADUALLY whisk in warm chocolate mixture. Go slow, or else you’ll have scrambled eggs.
Whew, the hard part is over! Do a celebratory happy dance or a gulp of wine if that’s your thing…I prefer both!
Lightly grease 13×9 glass dish with butter or cooking spray. Place bread cubes and semi-sweet chocolate evenly in dish, pushing some of the chocolate down between the bread. Add half of white chocolate mixture. Press bread down into the chocolate mixture, don’t forget the corners. Let stand 15 minutes. Gently mix in remaining white chocolate mixture. Cover dish with foil.
Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, and bake until top is golden brown. About 15 minutes. Cool slightly.
Bring remaining 1/2 cream to light simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat. Add remaining 8 ounces white chocolate until melted and smooth. Serve pudding warm with warm white chocolate sauce.
*Can be made a day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate. Re-heat covered pudding in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes before serving.