Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Chocolate Bread Pudding - Tuesdays with Dorie


Dave is a big fan of bread pudding, so he was excited about this week's recipe-as if he doesn't get enough sweets already! Dave loves all those old-fashioned custard-y types of desserts:bread pudding, rice pudding, tapioca pudding, custard pies. His grandmother made them for him when he was growing up; she was a very frugal cook and made the same recipes over and over. She even made milk from dried milk powder to save a bit of money. Anyway, Dave loved her desserts and so I had to learn to bake them. We didn't eat things like tapioca pudding growing up. We were more into cookies and brownies. In fact, I don't even think I tasted tapioca until I was married.

I've made many versions of bread pudding over the years, and this is a nice recipe. I simplified the process a bit by topping the pudding with the chocolate, instead of having a chocolate custard. That way, I am able to eat around the chocolate; I'm not a big chocolate lover. This pudding was rich with the addition of cream, and fortunately not too egg-y.

Please see the wonderful blog "Upper East Side Chronicle" for the full recipe. http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/

The vanilla bean: My very lovely friend in Australia sent me a just-picked vanilla bean; she buys them at the farmer's market. I have to say that it is most fragrant vanilla bean I've ever encountered. It was super soft, and just packed full of seeds. I used the seeds in a cake recipe, but saved the pod to make vanilla flavored sugar, which I used in the bread pudding.
So, thank you, Joy-you wonderful Aussie, you!

10 comments:

  1. Joy sounds awesome! Fresh vanilla beans are just awesome. Your bread pudding looks awesome. I'm a huge chocolate fan, but I actually really like the idea that you put the chocolate in separately from the custard. I'm sure Dave totally loved this dessert.

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  2. I am so glad someone liked the bread pudding! I like the idea of just putting the chocolate on top; I don't care for too much chocolate either.

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  3. I'm glad you liked it. It looks wonderful.

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  4. It looks very good. Hope Dave really enjoyed it!

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  5. Thanks Elyse! Dave did love it-he is such a huge bread pudding fan. Joy is lovely and I'm hoping to get to Australia to see her soon.

    I do like chocolate, but just not too much of it.

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  6. FitChick- Thank you. The pudding underneath the chocolate was really good.

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  7. Sounds like this was the perfect dessert for Dave. I like your idea of using the chocolate on top instead of mixing it into the custard...fantastic work!

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  8. I really enjoyed this, especially warmed up with chocolate syrup or cream anglaise!

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