Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce



After seeing pics of this magnificent bread pudding mixed in with pics from Dorklepork's Magnificent Tofurky Day Feast and having fantasized for the past month or so about trying it, I finally decided to tackle it this weekend. I've never ever had bread pudding before. In fact, it's something that I've always found to be a bit creepy. I mean, bread? In pudding? WTF?

What won me over on this one was the chocolate-factor. I am not a fan of vanilla pudding, period. So it makes sense that I've never had bread pudding before since it's typically vanilla. With this recipe, however, that is so very much *NOT* the case. This version is rich and decadent with all sorts of chocolatey goodness.

Having decided to make it, I purchased a nice, fresh, crusty loaf of italian bread at the WSM. However, I was not patient enough to let it stale up (since I wanted to make it that same night). I let it sit out all day, but it only got a bit hard. So while we ate dinner, we tossed chunks of the loaf in the oven on super-low and let it harden up some. Worked wonders.

The bread pudding itself is as easy-peasy as they come. Takes maybe all of 5-10 minutes to whip together. And when it's ready to toss in the oven, it kinda looks like gross bread sopping in chocolate milk--tee hee...

The rum sauce was just as easy, though I would've preferred someone else to have made it SIMPLY SO I COULD'VE CONVINCED MYSELF IT WASN'T TERRIBLY HORRIBLY BAD FOR YOU. But alas, after dumping a whole cup of margarine into a food processor, it's hard to cling to that illusion.

End result: chocolatey rummy goodness. I will forewarn you--E's first response when he sunk his teeth into this beauty of a recipe was "Oh my god, is this rummy." And ladies and gents, by god, it certainly is. I mean, it has 1/4 cup of fricking rum in it. That's like a couple shots. And you can definitely taste it.

But oh man, is it good. We weren't quite so liberal with the rum sauce as Ms. Dorklepork was--we spooned a couple spoonfuls on each helping of bread pudding, just enough to melt delectably into the oozy gooey nooks and crannies. Because of that, I ended up with about 1/4 cup or so left over after all the pudding was gone. But any more I think might've been a bit too potent.

All that being said and done, I don't think I'd change a damn thing about the recipe. Yeah, the rum's potent. But that's why you embrace minimalism when dousing your bread pudding with it.

Seriously folks, if you're looking for a scrumptious, luxuriant, decadent, oozy, yumtastic dessert for the holiday season, this is the one. I plan on making it again for Christmas, if all goes well.

(Oh yeah--and it works well as leftovers. The rum sauce hardens up into a margarine-consistency, but scrape chunks over your bread pudding and pop it into the microwave for a few, and it'll soften right up.)

INGREDIENTS:

For the Pudding:
  • 5 Tbsp. cocoa

  • 1 Tbsp. hot water

  • 2 cups soy milk

  • Egg Replacer equivalent of 2 eggs

  • 1/2 cup sugar (try Florida Crystals brand)

  • Dash salt

  • 1 tsp. vanilla

  • 2 to 3 cups stale bread, torn into small pieces

For the Rum Sauce:
  • 1 cup margarine, softened (try Earth Balance brand)

  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar

  • 1/4 cup dark rum

  • 1 tsp. vanilla

  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

Combine the cocoa with the hot water until smooth. Add more water as needed. In a large bowl, combine the cocoa mixture, soy milk, egg replacer, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Mix in the stale bread. Pour into a prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Beat the margarine until light and fluffy. Sift the confectioner’s sugar into the butter. Add the rum, vanilla, and nutmeg. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Pour over the pudding.

Serve warm.

Makes 6 servings

(Original recipe from VegCooking)

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