Paula Deen's Chocolate Bread Pudding..OMG!

Paula Deen's Chocolate Bread Pudding..OMG!

MeMom and I both made this for dessert on Easter Sunday. She enjoyed hers in sunny Florida with my extended family and I enjoyed mine in the company of manly and the boy here in gloomy cold Chicago. MeMom likes hers a little less sweet so omitted the shaved chocolate at the end and used Chocolate liqueur instead of the coffee. I made mine just the way 'ol Paula said to because she's a wild woman when it comes to desserts! You can half this recipe for a small group (using an 8X8 pan or 6 oz. ramekins) or make the whole shebang for a large gathering. The original recipe that I had printed out several years ago had a whiskey sauce to drizzle over before serving (talk about gilding the lily) but the recipes that show up on FN now don't have it. I will tag it on to the end of this post in case you want to try it but honestly it really doesn't need it and I'm a lily gilder from way back! Just a little whipped cream (which you could spike), powdered sugar or a small scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream will do just fine.
























Recipe: Paula Deen's Chocolate Bread Pudding
Ingredients
1 (1-pound) loaf French or Italian bread, cubed
3 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coffee flavored liqueur (I used Starbucks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
Whipped cream (optional)
Whiskey Sauce (optional, recipe follows)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and place the bread in the dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur. Using another bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond extract, and cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture to the milk mixture and mix well.

Stir the grated chocolate into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cubed bread in the pan. Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally for approximately 20 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the milk mixture. Bake pudding for 1 hour or until set. Check pudding by inserting a knife through the middle and it should come out clean.

Serve the pudding warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled with whipped cream if desired.


Recipe: Whiskey Sauce

Ingredients
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1t. cornstarch
1 cup half-and-half
1 T. whiskey
1t. vanilla

Directions
In a medium sized bowl, combine egg, sugar, cornstarch and half-and-half. Whisk to combine.

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat pour in contents of the bowl. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly and cook 8-10 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat.

Stir in the whiskey and vanilla. Mix well. Keep warm. Drizzle over warm bread pudding and serve.