Double Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding Recipes

CHOCOLATE-DRIED CHERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Put the dark chocolate chips in a large heatproof bowl. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until well combined.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, milk, brandy, orange zest, vanilla seeds, salt, and granulated sugar to a boil; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot liquid over the dark chocolate chips and whisk until melted and smooth. While whisking constantly, pour the dark chocolate mixture into the eggs, mixing until combined. Add the bread and toss gently to coat. Transfer the bread mixture to the refrigerator and cool to room temperature. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cherries. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Put eight 4-ounce ramekins on a baking sheet and lightly coat them with cooking spray.
• Stir the bread pudding mixture to evenly distribute the chocolate chips and cherries. Divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins. Sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar over the top of each pudding and bake until puffed and set, about 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

"DREAD" PUDDING WITH CHERRY "BLOOD" SAUCE

Steps:

• For the "dread" pudding: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter ten 6-ounce ramekins with the butter.
• Spread the sweet roll cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until golden and lightly toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Whisk together the cream, almond milk, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt and eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Transfer the toasted roll cubes to the mixture, toss to coat and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
• Fold the chocolate chips and cherries into the cream and bread mixture and evenly divide among the buttered ramekins. Bake until the tops are crispy and the custard has set, 30 to 40 minutes.
• For the cherry "blood" sauce: Meanwhile, combine the cherries, brandy, honey and salt in a blender and blend on high until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the butter. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced by about half, about 30 minutes.
• For the shortbread "tombstones:" On a baking sheet lined with parchment, lay the shortbread cookies smooth-side up. Add the white chocolate chips to a small glass or microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 15-second intervals until melted.
• Pick out icing letters to spell RIP or various names or initials. Using a toothpick, spread the melted white chocolate onto the back of the icing letters and glue them to the shortbread cookies to resemble tombstones. Spray each tombstone with the black food coloring mist spray and let dry for a few minutes. Spray each with the pearl food coloring mist spray and let dry for a few minutes.
• Serve the "dread" puddings with cherry "blood" sauce and garnish with the shortbread tombstones and mint sprigs.

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-in. springform pan with 1 tablespoon butter. Cube remaining butter; place in a small saucepan. Add chocolate chips and brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat., In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, vanilla, espresso powder and salt. Gently stir in bread; let stand until bread is softened, about 15 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes., Meanwhile, for sauce, heat cream in a small heavy saucepan until bubbles form around sides. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk, brown sugar and salt. Whisk a small amount of hot cream into egg mixture; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Stir in butter. Fold in pecans and coconut. If desired, stir in brandy. Cool., For whipped cream, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and, if desired, brandy; beat until soft peaks form., Loosen sides of pan with a knife. Carefully run a knife around edge of springform pan to loosen; remove rim from pan. Serve pudding warm with sauce and whipped cream.

CHERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Combine milk, sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook just until butter has melted and set aside to cool.
• Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish or spray with cooking spray.
• Add bread cubes to the baking dish. Whisk eggs into the butter mixture until well combined and pour over the bread cubes, pressing down a bit so bread cubes are submerged. Stir cherries into the bread cube mixture and distribute evenly. Let soak for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the bread pudding.
• Bake until the top is golden brown and the custard is set in the center, about 65 minutes. Bread pudding will puff up but drop shortly after coming out of the oven, just like a souffle. Place on a baking rack and cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING WITH BOURBON WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare the bottom and sides of the baking dish with the butter. In a large bowl, add the bread and croissant chunks along with the chocolate chips sprinkled over the top. Toss gently and pour into the prepared dish making sure all the chocolate chips don't settle on the bottom.
• In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, chocolate syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• Pour the chocolate custard over the bread and chocolate in the dish and press the bread down into the custard to soak it up. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then press down a bit again.
• Bake uncovered until the edges are golden brown and the center springs back a bit when touched, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow it to cool and settle for about 30 minutes and then make pretty squares, or just dig in right away. Serve with a dollop of Bourbon Whipped Cream, recipe follows. Can also be served cold.
• In a large bowl whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and bourbon and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Refrigerate and serve cold.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Lightly coat an 8X8 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Microwave 4 oz milk chocolate on medium power until melted - let cool.
• Combine the dried cherries and cognac or hot water and microwave for 1 minute or until plumped slightly. Let stand until room temperature.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light. Whisk in the cooled chocolate, half and half, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Gently stir in remaining ingredients.
• Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and let stand for 30 minutes (You may refrigerate for up to 2 hrs if needed but I have also baked right away before with great results!)
• Bake for 40 mins or until set in middle.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHERRY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl. In a bowl of an electric mixer, or with a handheld mixer, combine butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and wine and combine. Slowly in batches add the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and cherries. On a nonstick cookie sheet, place a heaping tablespoon of dough for each cookie about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops are still soft looking but edges look firm.

DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat heavy cream, sugar, and milk in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir chopped chocolate into warm cream mixture using a wire whisk until smooth and chocolate has melted completely. Whisk eggs and vanilla extract into mixture gradually until well combined.
• Place French bread into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Pour chocolate mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Remove pudding from the refrigerator, uncover, and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
• Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, until set, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove from the oven. Let cool 10 minutes before serving warm, or cover and refrigerate to serve cold later.

CHOCOLATE & CHERRY CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Steps:

• Drain the cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Cut them in half. Peel the pear, then grate it coarsely.
• In a large bowl, combine the cherries, pear, the raisins, sultanas and brandy. Stir well and cover with clingfilm.
• Heat in the microwave on high for 3 mins, then leave to cool for 5 mins to let the fruit plump up. Break the chocolate into squares while you wait.
• Tip the chocolate and butter into the hot fruit. Stir, then leave to melt. Let it cool, uncovered, for about 15 mins.
• Meanwhile, rub 1 tbsp butter around the inside of a 1-litre pudding basin.
• Lay two sheets of foil over each other and butter the one on top. Holding both sheets together, fold a 3cm pleat across the middle of the foil and set aside.
• Beat the eggs together in a small bowl. Sift the flour, sugar, mixed spice and cocoa powder on top of the chocolatey fruit, then add the breadcrumbs, eggs and ¼ tsp salt.
• Stir everything together with a wooden spoon - it will be quite a wet mixture. Tip it into the buttered basin.
• Cover the pudding with the buttered foil (buttery-side down), and scrunch it over the edge of the basin. Tie string tightly under the lip of the basin, and make a string handle to help you lower the basin in and out of the saucepan later.
• Trim the foil so that a frill of about 5cm is left sticking out, then tuck the frill up and under itself neatly. The aim is to keep the pudding watertight beneath.
• Put a heatproof saucer into the very large saucepan, then put the basin on top. Pour in just-boiled water to come halfway up the basin.
• Cover the pan and steam the pudding for 2½ hrs. Test the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil - if there is any wet mixture, steam for 15 mins more then check again.The pan should be simmering rather than boiling hard. Top up the water levels as it cooks, if you need to.
• To store, let the pudding cool and leave in a cool dark place to mature. Don't unwrap the foil. You can make this pudding up to two months before eating.
• To reheat, steam in a pan for 30 mins, or microwave on medium for 5 mins. Remove the foil to microwave, covering with clingfilm instead.
• For the sauce, break the chocolate into squares. Put all the ingredients in a small pan and heat gently, stirring, until smooth. Serve the pudding topped with any remaining cherries, the sauce and a dollop of double cream.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Drain the jar of cherries but reserve 1 TB of the cherry juice. Chop the cherries coarsely. The first time I made this I used a food processor and got them too fine. More chunky is definately better.
• In a large bowl, combine 1 TB of cherry juice, eggs and next 4 ingredients and stir will.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Add the bread cubes and let stand for 15 minutes on the counter, stirring occasionally. After 15 minutes, stir in the chocolate chips and cherries.
• Spoon this mixture into a greased 9 inch square pan (I used a bread pan with good results) and bake, uncovered for 50-60 minutes or until set.
• Garnish, if you want to, with whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
• Cook time includes 15 minutes soaking time for french bread cubes.