Today's bread puddings tend to be far more luxurious than their humble origins, utilizing fresh gourmet breads, and other high-end ingredients such as vanilla beans, bourbon, gruyere cheese or nuts.
For years I made the same recipe of bread pudding because people always raved: Chocolate Bourbon Bread Pudding was hard to turn down.
But, when recently I was tweaking the recipe to make it more chocolaty, before long I ended up creating a whole new flavor: Chocolate Orange.
When following the recipe below, consider a few things:
The type of bread used and how you slice it is important. Egg bread gives the richest flavor, but a Jewish Challah has too much crust. Hawaiian bread or even Italian style are viable choices if a plain egg bread is not available. An unsliced loaf is best, to cut it into 1-inch thick slices. Some pre-sliced bread comes in thicker slices and that's the way to go. You can even use raisin bread and skip the dried fruit and cinnamon.
The better the chocolate you use the better the flavor. I'm fond of Ghiragelli Bittersweet chocolate, but Guitard is another popular quality brand made for baking.
The fruit to use is the blood orange, as it gives a little extra sophistication with its bitter taste, which pairs so well with the bittersweet chocolate. But a navel orange is a more than acceptable substitute. Choose oranges with the darkest skin.
Some other helpful tips:
- Zest the orange whole before cutting in half to juice.
- Prepare it the day before to allow the flavors to meld and serve room temperature
Chocolate Orange Bread Pudding
INGREDIENTS:
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 11.5-ounce package
Ghiradelii Bittersweet Chocolate pieces
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 blood oranges, zested in strips, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup blood orange juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 pound egg bread, 1-inch dice
1/2 cup dried currants or mixed dried fruits (optional), soaked in boiling water
1/2 cup slivered almonds
DIRECTIONS:
DIRECTIONS:
If using, place the 1/2 cup currants or dried fruit in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand while preparing the batter and drain before using.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine buttermilk, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Melt in chocolate and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until light and lemon in color. Add almond extract, orange juice, orange zest, salt and mix well. Slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. Mix in bread cubes and let stand 20 minutes to allow bread to absorb mixture, stirring occasionally. Stir in drained fruit.
Mix well once before transferring mixture to a greased 3-quart casserole, souffle dish or dutch oven. Sprinkle on slivered almonds and bake 45-60 minutes until set in the center.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine buttermilk, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Melt in chocolate and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until light and lemon in color. Add almond extract, orange juice, orange zest, salt and mix well. Slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. Mix in bread cubes and let stand 20 minutes to allow bread to absorb mixture, stirring occasionally. Stir in drained fruit.
Mix well once before transferring mixture to a greased 3-quart casserole, souffle dish or dutch oven. Sprinkle on slivered almonds and bake 45-60 minutes until set in the center.
Serve warm or room temperature. Garnish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
