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chocolate brioche bread pudding (bitter blanc)

(17 ratings)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Maggie May Schill
Jacksonville, FL

My husband's favorite thing in the world is bread pudding practically. He was recently gone on a business trip and left me all by myself for almost a week, which got me lonesome! Got missing him, so I started thinking about bread pudding. I got remembering the yummy white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache bread pudding we had on our honeymoon, and then immediately got experimenting! (On our honeymoon the bread pudding was called a "bitter blanc" bread pudding. ) The resulting recipe is what I came up with from memory and a little research on French confectioneries. Enjoy!

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Now, this is some seriously wonderful bread pudding! I kept tasting as I cooked, and with each step the flavor got more and more irresistible! The recipe requires a fair amount of effort, but it's well worth it in the end.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(17 ratings)
yield 5 serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr
cook time 40 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For chocolate brioche bread pudding (bitter blanc)

  • INGREDIENTS FOR PUDDING:
  • 5 c
    brioche bread, cubed into 1/2 inches, crust removed.
  • 3
    egg yolks (room temp)
  • 1/3 c
    sugar
  • 1/2 c
    heavy cream
  • 5 Tbsp
    butter, salted
  • 1 c
    white chocolate chips
  • INGREDIENTS FOR DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
  • 1 c
    semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 c
    heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • INGREDIENTS FOR VANILLA CREAM GLAZE SAUCE:
  • 2
    egg yolks
  • 2 Tbsp
    sugar
  • 1 Tbsp
    cornstarch
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • 1 c
    whole milk
  • INGREDIENTS FOR MERINGUE:
  • the whites of three eggs (room temp)
  • 3 Tbsp
    sugar

How To Make chocolate brioche bread pudding (bitter blanc)

Test Kitchen Tips
We've found that both brioche and Challah bread work great in this recipe.
  • 1
    Method of preparing pudding batter: 1-In medium bowl, soak the bread cubes thoroughly in the heavy cream. Set aside. 2-In a double boiler melt the white chocolate together with the butter. Stir occasionally until smooth. 3-In a small bowl, cream the egg yolks together with your sugar until completely incorporated. 4-Once white chocolate mixture is smooth, slowly stir it into your bowl containing your egg yolk and sugar mix. Stir slowly until completely creamy. 5-Pour the egg and white chocolate mixture over your bread mixture and toss until the bread is completely coated. Set aside.
  • 2
    Method for Meringue 1- In large mixing bowl, cream egg whites and sugar together with a hand blender on medium speed for 3 minutes. 2- Turn mixer up to high speed and blend vigorously until the eggs reach stiff peaks. It should look like whipped cream almost once you are done whipping. 3-Fold your bread mixture into your meringue softly. 4- Set aside.
  • 3
    Ganache Method: 1-In a sauce pan, boil heavy whipping cream. 2-Stir in vanilla extract. 3-Put chocolate in a small mixing bowl. 4-Once cream is good and hot, pour over dark chocolate. Stir until silky and smooth.
  • 4
    Assembling Puddings for Baking: 1-Preheat oven to 325'F 2-In two, 2.5 cup souffle dishes, (or five, 1 cup dishes) grease with butter liberally and dust lightly with sugar on all edges. 3-At the bottom of your dishes spread your ganche out evenly between the two pans. 4-Spoon your bread pudding batter on top of ganche until both dishes are filled up completely. 5-Lay dishes onto a cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes, shielded. (shielded: lightly lay foil over puddings, making sure foil does not come in contact with the top of your puddings. Just shield the tops of the puddings from direct heat from the oven.) 6-Bake for an additional 10 minutes unshielded. 7-Take out and let rest 5 minutes. (Do not cook any longer than 45 minutes tops. The pudding will dry out. [Meringue is extremely temperamental like that!])
  • 5
    ( Side Note: I suggest making your glaze while your puddings are in the oven.) Method for Glaze: 1-Boil your milk with the sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally so the milk doesn't scorch. 2-In a small mixing bowl cream your yolks with your cornstarch until it makes a paste. 3-Slowly stir boiled milk into your egg mixture while beating vigorously. 4-Add vanilla extract and stir. 5-Once cream is smooth put back into sauce pan and cook on low heat until it thicken. (Add a splash of milk if your sauce gets too thick in the cooking process.)
  • 6
    Once puddings have rested, dust them lightly with powdered sugar. Top them off with as much hot cream glaze as you like. Serve immediately. These puddings are best served hot! I do suggest using Brioche bread, however if that bread is hard for you to find a reasonable substitute is any sweet and eggy bread. Sweet bread, Hawaiian rolls or Challah bread will work alright, though won't be entirely the same as Brioche bread.
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