Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding Recipes

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Coat medium baking dish with cooking spray. Place bread cubes evenly in prepared baking dish.
• In small microwaveable bowl, combine cherries and liqueur or juice. Microwave on High 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes, or until cherries are plump and most of liquid is absorbed.
• In large bowl, combine brown sugar, cocoa, milk, egg whites, prune puree, and vanilla. Add chocolate and cherries with any remaining liquid. Stir to mix. Pour over bread cubes. Press down lightly to make sure all bread is moistened. Let stand 15 minutes for bread to absorb liquid.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until slightly puffed and set. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Sift the confectioners' sugar over pudding.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BREAD PUDDING WITH VANILLA SAUCE

Steps:

• For the vanilla sauce: Bring the milk and salt to a simmer over medium heat in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a bowl until combined, and then add to the hot milk in a slow stream, whisking. Transfer the custard back to the saucepan and cook over moderately-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard coats back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in the vanilla. Cover the surface of the custard with a round of wax paper and chill until cold, at least 1 hour.
• For the bread pudding: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In large mixing bowl, toss together the donut slices, dried cherries and white chocolate. Set aside. In second large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Measure out 1/4 cup of spiced sugar into a small bowl and set aside.
• In a third large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk and vanilla. Whisk the eggs into the large bowl of spiced sugar, and then pour over the bread-chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Pour the batter into a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan and sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 cup spiced sugar. Scatter the butter cubes over top and bake until golden brown and just set in middle, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve with the vanilla sauce.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CROISSANT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat 4 whole eggs, 1 egg yolk and 3/4 cup sugar with wire whisk until well blended. Beat in milk, whipping cream and vanilla until well blended. Stir in 7 cups of the croissants pieces. Let stand 20 minutes. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Lightly press remaining 3 cups croissant pieces on top of mixture. Brush top of croissant pieces with butter; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle with dried cherries.
• Bake uncovered 55 to 65 minutes or until top is light golden brown (center will jiggle slightly). Cool 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix 1/4 cup sugar, the cornstarch and water until blended. Stir in frozen cherries. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve sauce over warm bread pudding. Store bread pudding and sauce covered in refrigerator.

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.

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.