Bread pudding...I've always found it to be a strange concept- stale bread, soaked in a cream and egg mixture, then baked in a water bath? Let's face it, it's just odd. I've never been the biggest fan, but I figured that I'd try this one out because it is a chocolate bread pudding after all! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle (the recipe can be found on her blog). I'll be honest with you, I didn't love this dessert- but I didn't dislike it either. The flavor was delicious- creamy, chocolaty, rich, but I just can't get past the strange texture of bread pudding. It just has that weird almost wet, squishy thing going on and I can't stop thinking about the fact that there are pieces of bread in it. Anyway, that's obviously my issue because the bread pudding lovers in my life really enjoyed it!
I used brioche with raisins from a local bakery for my bread and I think that the buttery-ness of the brioche really added to the richness of the dessert and soaked up the liquid really nicely. I cut the loaf up and let it sit out on the counter for two days so that the pudding wouldn't be soggy and that method seemed to work well. I refrigerated the pudding overnight before cutting into it and it held its shape beautifully. I can't say that I'd make this again for myself but I would definitely make it for anyone who requested it because it was very very easy to make!
So, in other news I'm finally in the third trimester of this pregnancy and July seems closer than ever! Pretty much every random stranger in the grocery store, mall, etc. feels the need to tell me that I look like I'm "about to go any day now"...umm ok how about three months from now?! The only person who seems not to have noticed the watermellon that has sprung up in my mid-section is Helen Mae who has absolutely no concept of her new little sibling's impending arrival. Thank goodness she has mad pouting skills:
