Tuesday, April 21, 2009

TWD: Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding. I discovered I liked bread pudding several birthdays ago when I was presented with a serving with a candle in it (the restaurant didn’t have cake). My favorite bread pudding is from Tartine, the seminal San Francisco bakery. They make it with brioche and top it with seasonal fruit, and serve such a generous portion that it lasts several days. The Tartine cookbook has the recipe, but I’ve never attempted it, so I was pleased that bread pudding was selected as a TWD recipe so I’d finally get around to making it. (I’ve actually never made anything from the Tartine cookbook, but it has gorgeous photos!)



After last week’s debacle with barely getting my post up before the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, I decided to make my bread pudding on Friday evening. I made a third of a recipe – can’t trust myself around bread pudding – which fit perfectly into four ramekins. I didn’t deviate from the original recipe much; though I used 1% milk instead of whole since that’s what I had, and I added a little bit of brandy to the custard mixture to deepen the flavor. I also forgot to add an egg, but that wasn’t intentional (I did remember the egg yolks). Since it is requisite for all TWD bakers to have cream (and chocolate and eggs) in their refrigerator this month, I whipped up a little to top the bread pudding with and it was fabulous.



I gave this recipe a 7.5 (which doesn’t quite translate to four stars) for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.5. Many thanks to Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle for finally motivating me to make bread pudding. You can find the recipe on Lauren's site, and as always, check out the TWD site to see what the other bakers thought of it.

16 comments:

chocolatechic said...

I didn't think it was 4 stars either.

Sabrina said...

That looks super chocolaty!! WOW! nice work!

Megan said...

Ha ha - I don't trust myself with bread pudding either!

Heather said...

Looks great! I should have made 1/2 a batch; I'm hoping my hubby eats it quickly and saves me from myself.

Unknown said...

Sorry it wasn't 4 stars for you but it looks so cute in the ramekins :) Great job.

Pamela said...

Great job!! Yeah, it wasn't a favorite, but I am glad I tried it. It looks luscious!

Elyse said...

Margot, this bread pudding looks totally divine. It's definitely one of my favorite desserts. You know what? You've reminded me: I've lived in Berkeley almost 1 year. I commute into SF almost everyday. Yet, I have not been to Tartine. I simply need to go! No more excuses.

AmyRuth said...

You have the prettiest bread pudding. Souffle like. Great job

Babette said...

Oh! Love the minis...I just never think about down-sizing stuff and I'm still on a baking learning curve..cute photos.

Jessica said...

Your bread pudding looks delicious. I'm sorry that it didn't get the coveted fourth star. I'll be honest, you sort of lost me when you were describing the Tartine bread pudding. All I could think about was bread pudding with fruit and it sounds so good!

Sweet as Coco said...

See...I knew I should have halved this...I was too lazy to work out the math. Yours looks fabulous!

TeaLady said...

Those look delicious. I love bread pudding and guess I will eventually make this one. Looks like many TWDers were on the fence with this one.

Anonymous said...

Sweet puddings! Sometimes when you have a favorite it just can't be outdone.

Leslie said...

Yours looks so deeply chocolate, and I love it in the ramekins! I have read that several bakers used 1% milk and I'm really intrigued by that since it would be nice to be able to rationalize it more easily. BTW, those turnovers look AMAZING!

Anonymous said...

Adding brandy sounds like an excellent idea! I'm nowhere near SF, but if I get there, I'll have to check out Tartine.

Jaime said...

that first plate is so pretty!