Chocolate-Cherry Bread Pudding

by Donna Marie Desfor
Serves 8

Croissants are a breakfast and lunch favorite, especially when you’re entertaining a crowd. But you can also transform your buttery, airy leftovers into an inspired dessert laced with the flavor of dark, bittersweet chocolate and dried cherries. To add another dimension of flavor, rehydrate the cherries in port wine before cooking the bread pudding.—Donna Marie Desfor

convert Ingredients
6 large croissants
3/4 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 to 1/3 cup tawny port, to taste
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Generous pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean
12 ounces high-quality dark (bittersweet) chocolate (65% or higher cacao content)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Coarsely chop or tear the each croissant into bite size pieces. Dry at room temperature overnight or in a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2. Combine the cherries and port in heavy small saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand until the cherries are plump, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the port from the cherries, reserving the port for the chocolate sauce. Coarsely chop the cherries and set aside.

3. Combine the sugar, milk, 1 cup of the cream, and the salt in a heavy medium-size saucepan and set over medium heat. Cut the vanilla bean in half crosswise and then slice each half lengthwise. Scrape the seeds from the bean skins with the back of a knife and add the seeds and skins to the milk mixture. Whisk continually to dissolve the sugar. When steam rises from the liquid and small bubbles appear around the edges, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove and discard the vanilla bean.

4. Meanwhile, coarsely chop 8 ounces of the chocolate and set aside. Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart baking dish.

5. Spread half of the croissant pieces in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate evenly over the croissants, then scatter the chopped cherries over top. Crown the mixture with the remaining croissant pieces.

6. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs to combine. Slowly add the cooled milk mixture to the eggs while whisking constantly.

7. Pour the milk-egg mixture slowly over the bread. Use the back of a spatula to press the croissant into the liquid to help absorb the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or up to 12 hours.

8. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Remove the dish from the refrigerator and uncover.

9. Cut the 2 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and scatter them on top of the prepared pudding. Bake until the pudding is slightly raised and light golden in color, about 45 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until warm, about 15 to 20 minutes.

11. While the pudding is resting, coarsely chop the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and place the pieces in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Melt the chocolate, whisking often, then pour in the remaining 1/4 cup of cream and about one-third of the reserved port-cherry liquid (from rehydrating the cherries), whisking until smooth.

12. Serve the pudding warm or at room temperature drizzled with the chocolate-port sauce Garnish with fresh mint.

Recipe © 2007 There’s a Chef in My Kitchen, LLC. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.