Hello there!
It’s Anne from over at A Squared. My friend Kit and I have been talking forever about writing guest posts on each other’s blogs for months now and finally, here I am! Kit and I have a few big things in common– we are both newlyweds, we both love to cook, and we both have cooking/lifestyle blogs. With that in mind and with Valentine’s Day approaching, it only seemed appropriate for these two new wives to collaborate on a romantic holiday dinner for two. Kit took on making heart shaped mushroom ravioli which you can check out over at A Squared today and I was in charge of making a dessert for two, which I will be sharing with you here today.
Crafting a dessert for two is a bit of a challenge since most traditional recipes end up yielding either 12 slices of cake or a few dozen cookies. And let’s be honest, I can’t handle having an entire cake sitting in my kitchen for the next week. I just don’t have the willpower for that! So, I did a little brainstorming and finally settled on bread pudding. It’s really decadent and one of my favorite restaurant desserts, but something that I have never attempted to make myself. This bread pudding recipe includes fresh raspberries and a dark chocolate custard base, although you could easily use milk chocolate or other fruit (like strawberries, cherries, bananas) if you wanted to change things up a bit. I just really like the classic combination of raspberry and dark chocolate combination. This recipe was surprisingly easy to prepare and the result was rich and delicious– the perfect dessert to serve to my Valentine!
You could also double or triple this recipe and even prepare it in a large baking dish if you wanted to serve it to company.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bread Puddings for Two
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups day old/stale challah bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries, divided
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chocolate chips, divided
- 1/2 cup whipping cream, divided
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
- 2 Tbs. cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Grease two ramekins and pack a layer of cubed bread in the bottom of each. Take 1/4 cup of the raspberries and sprinkle over the top of each bread layer along with half of the chocolate chips. Top with another tightly packed layer of cubed bread.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/4 cup cream, the half-and-half, and cocoa. Add the remaining chocolate chips and continue to whisk over low heat until melted and fully combined. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/4 cup cream and remove from heat. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until combined. Slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Slowly pour the mixture over the top of each ramekin of bread, being careful to let the bread absorb the liquid before pouring more in (otherwise it will flow right over the sides of your ramekins). Refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour in order to let the bread absorb more of the chocolate mixture.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set the ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake bread puddings for 35-40 minutes.
Remove and serve warm with remaining fresh raspberries and whipped cream.