Sourdough Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chunks and Vanilla Cream Sauce

As many of you people who follow me on Instagram know, Samuel has become quite the baker (see here). His amazing breads are becoming more worthy of our future bakery every day.

"Every day?" you ask.

Yeah, I'm not kidding, just about every day.

 "How can one man eat a whole loaf of bread a day?"




Since you say that, you must know that I, unfortunately, cannot partake in the glory of Samuel's bread due to gluten's incompatibility with my intestines. And even with our guests here, there are still always a few stale chunks of uneaten sourdough hanging around.
Thus, the pudding.





I actually wasn't planning to post this while I was making it. I just threw it together quick and then ran to the store to get some ingredients for some kind of extravagant post.

Unfortunately, when I got there I realized that I only had a few euros in my wallet. This would have been no problem, since I also have a debit card, but unfortunately I forgot the PIN number, so I can't use it.

The embarrassing thing is that this is like the third time this has happened. In other words this is not the first time I'm going to have to go into the bank and say, "Oh hi, it's me again. You know, that annoying American lady who can't remember PIN ever and has been here to get a new card like a million times? Yeah, that's me."

I think I should bring them some cookies or something this time so I'm slightly less ashamed to show my face.

But anyway, since I was already determined that I was going to photograph something today, I decided to just post something that I had around. That's when I remembered I had a bread pudding in the oven and raced home to check it. 

It looked good, but a little boring. It was only plain bread pudding with raisins. I cut a slice and scratched my chin as I examined it with a critical eye. I stuck a few chocolate chunks in the slice. That helped. Then I made a vanilla cream sauce to make things a little more interesting. I think it worked. 

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• Sourdough Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chunks and Vanilla Cream Sauce
•  
• Bread Pudding:
• 2 1/2 cups dry, cubed sourdough bread (any crusty bread will work)
• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate*
• 1/4 cup raisins *
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus another 1/4 cup for the top)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup half and half (or 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 
  
•  
• *You can add any combo or chocolate, dried fruit, and/or nuts and as much or little as you like. This is just what I did this time.
• 
  
• Vanilla Cream Sauce:
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• A pinch of salt
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter a small casserole dish (an 8x8 inch pan should also work). Toss the bread, chocolate chunks, and raisins together in the dish.
• In a separate bowl, beat 1/2 cup sugar and eggs together. Add the half and half a little at a time and mix well. Add the butter, salt, and cinnamon. Pour over the bread chunks. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar over the top. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until no longer runny on the inside.
• 
  
• To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Wisk until combined. Add the sugar and then whisk in the cream a little at a time until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until bubbly and thickened. Add vanilla and salt and serve over warm bread pudding.