TWD -- Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

I was happy to see Chocolate Bread Pudding on the menu for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. We love Bread Pudding and I've posted other bread pudding recipes on my blog. One bread pudding recipe is a vintage recipe from the "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" by Fanny Merritt Farmer, published in 1896. It is so interesting reading the old cookbooks.

Bread Pudding is a very easy, no frills recipe to make. I used Wawel Dark Czekolada gorzka 90% cocoa which made the recipe extra rich and dark and luscious.

Dorie's recipe called for brioche, challah or white bread and I decided to make Challah. I love making Challah and braiding the dough. But my Jewish husband, Mr. Tastebuds, does not like Challah!!! Sometimes Mr. Tastebuds is no fun at all! I also topped the bread pudding with a Vanilla Custard a recipe from my Mom.


Here's my Challah and it turned out beautifully!






And look at my gorgeous crumb!!! I'm so proud of my crumb!







No-Knead Challah
Recipe adapted from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or neutral-tasting vegetable oil such as canola), plus more for greasing the cookie sheet
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water)
Poppy or sesame seeds for the top

1. Mix the yeast and water, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter or oil in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (no airtight) plastic food container.

2. Stir in the flour without kneading, using a spoon or spatula.

3. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2-3 hours. I let it rise most the day and then put in the frig over night so it's completely cold. It's easier to work with if it's cold.

4. Use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using. Then allow the usual rest and rise time.

5. On baking day line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a silicone mat. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour or corn meal and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. (I use surgical gloves if the dough is very wet and it usually is.) Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6. Divide the ball into thirds, using a dough scraper or knife. Roll the balls between your hands (or on a board), stretching, to form each into a long, thin rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. Braid the ropes, starting from the center and working to one end. Turn the loaf over, rotate it, and braid from the center out to the remaining end. This produces a loaf with a more uniform thickness than when braided from end to end.

7. Allow the bread to rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1-2 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.

9. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the seeds.

10. Bake near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time. The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure. Due to the fat in the dough, challah will not form a hard, crackling crust.

11. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.







Custard Sauce
Recipe adapted from my Mom

2 c. milk or cream
3 TBL flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar and beaten egg until well blended. Heat milk to a simmer. When the milk is hot, slowly pour the milk into the egg/flour/sugar mixture stirring constantly until smooth.

Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Custard should be pouring consistency, it not just add a little bit more milk or cream.







Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle is our host this week and please visit her blog if you like a copy of the recipe.



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