Chocolate Bread Pudding

The other day, I had some end parts of a whole wheat loaf around. I made nice pudding out of it. It will seem like their is too much liquid for the bread, but the bread will soak it all up. You can double or triple the recipe, but you may have to change the baking time.

Use whole wheat or white bread, but make sure that it is nice dense type. Don't use the stuff in a plastic bag that weighs as much as a feather. Cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes.

Chocolate Bread Pudding
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped fine
3/4 cup whole milk (or 1/2 cup 1 % milk and 1/4 cup heavy cream)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups bread cubes

Leave the bread crumbs out to dry out completely on a baking sheet.

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. In a saucepan combine the cream, milk, sugar and espresso. Bring to a simmer and pour over the chocolate. Mix to melt the chocolate and cool until warm. Add the egg and whisk well. Pour in the bread crumbs and vanilla. Toss to combine and put into a baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the wrap and bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. Cool until warm and serve with whip cream or ice cream.

It is best to eat the pudding while warm. It does not have the same consistency if you refrigerate it. If you have leftovers you can heat it up in the microwave until warm. The pudding will not be the same though, so make this when you have at least 3 people that will eat it right away.

3-4 servings