If you've been reading here for a while, you may have noticed that there are very few chocolate recipes on this blog. I'm just not really big on chocolate. It takes a special recipe like this chocolate chunk bread pudding to really wow me. I am a big fan of chocolate with wine, though. They are a perfect match and I figure why stop at red wine and chocolate pairings when you can turn things up with a boozy chocolate sauce for bread pudding? So today's topic is chocolate chunk bread pudding with red wine sauce. Let's get into it.
What is Bread Pudding?
I've shared several bread pudding recipes here in the past and they are actually some of my most popular dessert recipes on the blog. Still, I somehow hadn't yet broken down exactly what a bread pudding is. My bad. If you're wondering what bread pudding is, it's a dessert made from torn or cut pieces of (usually stale) bread and a kind of custard. Not sure what kind of bread to use for bread pudding? French and Challah breads are great options for bread pudding and available at most bakeries or bakery sections of grocery stores. The bread pieces soak up all the moisture and flavor of the custard and form one uniform "pudding" while baking. And pudding is used in the European, specifically British, sense. This is not the creamy Jello pudding that might come to mind. It's bread-y, tender, and often boozy!
Classic bread pudding incorporates nuts and rum or whiskey-soaked raisins and is typically accompanied by a rum sauce, as well. My chocolate chunk bread pudding incorporates pieces of bittersweet baking chocolate instead of nuts or alcohol-soaked raisins. The sauce, however, is boozy. More bittersweet chocolate plus a few other ingredients and a healthy pour of red wine make for the perfect decadent finish to this easy bread pudding recipe. And because the red wine is added into the mix off heat, this red wine chocolate sauce retains its boozy kick and the flavor is phenomenal. You'll want to put this dessert chocolate wine sauce on everything from ice cream to a plain old spoon to eat alone. It's that good.
- Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding with Maple Cream Sauce
- Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding with Classic Glaze
- Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce
What's in Red Wine Chocolate Sauce?
- Bittersweet Chocolate (I normally use Ghirardelli but any brand will work. Check the baking aisle at your grocery store for this ingredient.)
- Butter
- Cocoa Powder (Regular or dark cocoa powder work exactly the same. Just depends on your preference.)
- Heavy Cream
- Red Wine (Just use your favorite red.)
- Sea Salt
- Sugar
You can use just about any kind of red wine to make the red wine chocolate sauce. Whichever kind of red wine you keep on hand for sipping would work wonderfully in the sauce because it will be especially suited to your taste. I usually make red wine chocolate sauce with Cabernet Sauvignon because that's the kind of wine I like to drink. I adapted the red wine chocolate sauce recipe from this red wine chocolate ganache.
Bread pudding with dark chocolate is exactly my speed because I'm partial to dark chocolate over milk chocolate and love how it doesn't melt all over the place while baking. With this recipe, you get distinct dark chocolate chunks. Because the spiked chocolate sauce is messy enough, right? If you prefer milk chocolate, that works, too. This versatile dessert recipe makes for a chocolate bread pudding that even non-chocolate lovers will enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this chocolate chunk bread pudding with red wine chocolate sauce as soon as possible. Sharing is caring so be sure to pin this recipe on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
P.S. more delicious desserts to try:
How to Make Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding with Red Wine Chocolate Sauce
Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding with Red Wine Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 loaf day-old French bread
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate cut into chunks
For the Red Wine Chocolate Sauce
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 6 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
For the Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
- Tear or cut French bread into small (about one-inch) pieces and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until uniform then add sugar, heavy cream, half and half, melted butter, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and sea salt. Stir until combined.
- Fold bread pieces into wet mixture until they have soaked up the mixture then fold in chocolate chunks.
- Transfer bread mixture into a square baking pan or medium-sized casserole dish and place into oven to bake for about 50 minutes or until top of bread pudding is golden brown and just lightly springy when pressed.
For the Red Wine Chocolate Sauce
- While bread pudding bakes, add the heavy cream, cocoa powder, and sugar to a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk until uniform. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in wine, butter, baking chocolate, and sea salt until smooth. Let sauce sit for about 10 minutes then serve with bread pudding.
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