Bread Pudding with White Chocolate

Aside from almost an entire chocolate cake leftover after the weekend, I was also left with a whole, untouched loaf of challah. What to do with it? My first thought was french toast, but we don't exactly have a stove top to fry that in. My roommate suggested I make a french toast casserole, specifically one she enjoyed at a bridal shower we both attended. I got the recipe but decided to just find my own recipe for bread pudding. (It seems to me that I wasnt the only one with bread pudding on the brain, as seen here and here.) I was kind of nervous about making it because this is the type of dessert that I thought the girls would balk at. Soaked bread? Knowing that these girls would eat anything I set before them, I forged ahead (and told them it was challah kugel- made them feel right at home!). Bread pudding is, as I said before, bread that is soaked in custard and then baked. You can add whatever you feel like, chocolate, raisins, fruit, etc. This recipe is adapted from Marcy Goldman's in which she adds white chocolate. I didn't have her exact ingredients on hand, so I just used whatever I did have, using the guideline of about 3 cups liquid. I used some cream, a bit of regular milk, and soy milk for the rest. I also totally missed the seventh egg, using only six medium. The resulting bread pudding was certainly no beauty, but was so..... housewarming. My roommate cut into it and deemed it delicious, so then I knew it was going to be okay. I was worried that the texture would be wet and mushy and eggy, but I was happy to see that it wasn't wet at all, but perfectly moist. I set it out for the girls to devour, and when I came home most of it was gone. I really was surprised about that. Anyway, feel free to doctor this recipe as you wish. And just know that french toast is not your only option when contemplating uses for stale challah. This post is headed straight to Yeastspotting! Check it out!

Bread Pudding with White Chocolate

adapted from A Passion for Baking

10 cups leftover challah, preferably homemade, cut into cubes or chunks

1 cup of cream 

1/4 cup milk

1 3/4 cups soy milk

6 medium eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup chopped white chocolate, good quality

Preheat your oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. Set aside.

Place your bread in a bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl, place your liquids,

and all of the rest of the ingredients, save for the chocolate. Whisk thoroughly.

Pour over the bread and let it soak in for 15 minutes.

Add the white chocolate chunks, and fold in thoroughly.

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth it out. 

Bake until it's firm to the touch and golden, about 35-40 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.