Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

You may remember that I discovered a lovely blog that taught me how to make challah bread (see I Holler for Challah, if you missed it). She mentions in her recipe that you can add dried fruit to your bread, which I have done before, but as soon as I read that, my mind immediately ran to chocolate. If you can insert dried fruit, surely you could do the same with chocolate chips. So, the other day I decided to test my theory by rolling the chips inside each of the 3 ropes that make the braided bread. This came out pretty well, but in the future I think I would sprinkle a few chips between the strands as I braid them, just to distribute a few more chips around. Unfortunately, we weren't doing a good job of eating this delicious bread very fast, and it was a little bit dry, so I feared that it would soon mold. Then I remembered how to save stale bread: bread pudding!

My very scientific search of the web found many bread pudding recipes, and a few chocolate bread pudding recipes, but no chocolate chip bread pudding recipes, so I decided to invent it. I used the "Best Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce" recipe on AllRecipes.com because vanilla sauce is very important to bread pudding, in my opinion, and because it didn't call for insane amounts of eggs. I then substituted out the cup of raisins for a cup of milk chocolate chips- who wants raisins in a chocolate dish? Not this kid. Here is the ingredient list for the bread pudding:

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 cup butter, melted

• 3 cups whole milk

• 10 slices hearty farmhouse-style bread, toasted and cut into cubes ...or chocolate chip challah

• 1 cup chocolate chips

I started out by cubing my remaining chocolate chip challah. I might cube them a bit smaller next time.

waste not, want not!

After turning the oven on at 375, I started to get the pudding ingredients in order in a large bowl. The bowl needs to fit you bread pieces later, so plan accordingly. You simply whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, butter, and sugars- no need for electric beaters. 

ready for whisking

 Then add in your chocolate chips. The cinnamon mades the batter look spotty, not the chocolate.

chocolate time!

The recipe doesn't really call for it, but web consensus is to let your bread soak in the creamy pudding mixture for at least 10 minutes, if not longer. I stirred mine a couple of times to rotate which pieces were at the bottom, and to distribute the chocolate chips, which tend to sink. 

soaking time

While my bread was soaking and oven was warming, I got my ingredients ready for the vanilla sauce. You'll need: 

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

I melted the butter and kept it separate until I was ready to make the sauce, once the pudding was nearly done baking. It'll take around 10 minutes to thicken, so build that into your baking timeline so you won't have to wait on the sauce once the pudding is done. 

ready for action

Once the bread had soaked a while, I Pam'd a casserole dish and spooned the bread chunks into it, then poured the remaining liquid and chips over the whole thing. You don't want too much bread sticking out the top of the liquid or it may get overly brown. I baked for 25 minutes (convection) and then put the casserole lid on for the final 25. I took it off again at the end and cooked another 5-ish minutes until I was sure it was done. Checking for done-ness is a little tricky since a pudding is a bit liquidy and the chocolate complicates things, but I inserted a knife in the center and stopped cooking when it came out not completely dry, but mostly, and was pretty clean too. Here is the finished product: 

Mmmmm!

Extreme pudding closeup! 

After it cooled a little, I spooned portions into bowls and smothered them with the vanilla sauce. This was a little slice of heaven. It's not the most traditional bread pudding, but it's pretty darn tasty. 

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Life-Changing Cake

Hello, readers. I wasn't going to blog this recipe. I got a recipe from a co-worker who said his wife had the best cake recipe ever. His family kindly gave me a wee recipe book at Christmas featuring this dessert. I hadn't made til about a week ago when same said coworker pestered me into making it for our staff meeting. All I can say is, "Whoa." The source of this recipe was never clear, and I wasn't sure if his wife was an evil genius or a resourceful Internet user. He said I shouldn't give it away to just anyone. However, I found what I think is the original source of this recipe, the well-known and somewhat fancy Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City. I tracked this recipe across the blogosphere in a couple of iterations from Wee Eats and Some Kitchen Stories.  However, I'm going to make a bold claim. These people are giving you bad advice and my version is BETTER. Ha, there, I've said it! Their recipe is for "bars" and you'll notice if you click the above link that the bars are distinctly darker on the bottom. Jake's wife took the recipe firmly into the cake realm, which I respect and appreciate, and I have kicked it up a notch using the easy yellow cake recipe from Mama J at A Little Bit Crunchy a Little Bit Rock 'n Roll (though she's doesn't give the amount of milk you should use) and by using more vanilla. Besides, who wants a 1" square bar unless you're at a party? That's just enough dessert to make this kid angry. 


So, here we go. I give you the recipe for what I'm going to christen Vanilla Gooey Butter Cake. Here's what you'll need to change life as you know it today:


for the cake

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbl vanilla
• 3/4 - 1 cup milk (2% or whole) 

for the gooey topping layer:

     8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

     2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg beaters) 

     4 cups confectioners sugar 

     1 tsp vanilla extract

Now preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease or Pam the bottom only of a 9x13 or 9.5 x 11 inch pan and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of your mixer. I used a fine-mesh sieve here instead of my hand-numbing sifter, so suit yourself. Add the sugar and butter and mix on low for about 1-2 minutes, until the mixture looks like relatively fine sand. 

In a large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla. If you are using egg substitute like egg beaters, use 3/4 cup of milk, but if you're using actual eggs, kick the milk up to 1 cup. Beat lightly with a fork in the cup. 

With the mixer on low, pour about a cup of the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for about a minute. Add the remaining mixture and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides as needed with a spatula. Pour your cake batter into your greased pan and set aside. 

Now for the gooey topping. Mix your cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla in a mixer or using an electric hand mixer until the lumps mostly subside. Add in your sugar slowly, mixing to incorporate each addition. When all sugar is incorporated and mixture is a consistent texture, pour over your cake batter in the pan. 

Bake for ~40 minutes, depending upon your oven and settings, until the top layer is ever so slightly brown and the sugar has formed a crisp layer. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out without cake batter when it's done, but will have goo on it from the topping. Like this: 

At this point your whole house will smell like vanilla heaven and you'll want to put your face in the cake, but it needs to be allowed to cool. Cool for a minimum of half an hour on your stovetop, or your goo will do this:

I was in a rush here to take some to a friend, so I cut it prematurely. However, these clowns on the Internet are telling you to put this cake in the freezer to make it easier to cut. For the love of all that is holy, do NOT do that! This cake will induce a foodgasm when eaten while still slightly warm, and unless you are foolishly cutting it into tiny pieces, there is no need to freeze! I cut it into roughly brownie-sized portions. This cake is a combination of yellow cake and a topping that has the best attributes of creamy frosting and crunchy creme brûlée topping. It is the kind of cake you think about all day. It is the kind of cake that lets you control others like puppets. Proceed with caution...and you can thank me later. 

This is the part where I normally put up a pretty photo of a piece on a plate, but this cake tends to disappear too fast, so you'll have to be content with another pan shot until I make it again.