Chocolate bread pudding

I was knocked down with a bad cold for most of last week. So when I was finally feeling a little better and could stand on my feet for more than ten minutes I wanted to bake something simple, something comforting, something chocolate.

I turned to Real Simple for a chocolate bread pudding recipe. I usually like Real Simple but this recipe was not that simple and had a few flaws in the directions. But with a few changes in the directions and the ingredients - I used unsweetened chocolate, not semi-sweet chips - this turned out to be a rich, hearty comfort food dessert with a hint of sophistication.

Ingredients
3 cups milk
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Trim the crusts of 12 slices of bread.

Lightly grease an 8 x 8 pan.

Whisk the milk, eggs, and sugar together in a saucepan. Add the butter and the chocolate and heat over low heat, just until the butter and the chocolate melt.

Arrange a single layer of bread in the pan and pour the sauce over it. Add the next layer of bread and pour the sauce over that. Arrange the final layer of bread slices and pour the remaining sauce over it.

Cover with plastic wrap and place another baking pan over it with something heavy on top of it (I used a heavy mug) to weigh down the bread. Set aside for one hour.

Note: if you have leftover sauce, go back after 30 minutes and pour the leftover sauce onto the bread. Sometimes it takes a while for the bread to absorb the sauce.

Remove the weight and the plastic and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes until the pudding sets.

Serve with a dollop of cream whipped by hand.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe to print here.