I'm still a bit behind on my Christmas baking, so there's a few more blog posts in store for you all in the next few weeks. Make sure you check out the "Recipes" section of this site as well, I've been adding in some recipes I've made in the past but haven't blogged about for whatever reason - there's some great stuff there!
Today's recipe is another one from one of my favourite cookbooks, the Kraft Philadelphia cookbook. I don't like bread and butter pudding as a general rule, but with dark chocolate - wow!
If you really don't like raisins you could probably replace raisin bread with normal bread. You could also substitute Italian Panettone as well.
Make sure you let the Philly soften well before you use it or you'll end up with clumps in your sauce. If you're using it straight from the fridge, I'd recommend chopping it up and microwaving it for 30 seconds before you start.
The recipe suggests that the pudding is served immediately; both times however I cooked it the day before, then refrigerated it overnight and warmed it up in the oven prior to serving. It was still delicious, and I think leaving it overnight probably helped the chocolate sauce to soak in better!
2 1/2 cups milk
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
125g Philadelphia Block Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon caster sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
8 slices raisin bread
icing sugar, for dusting
pure cream, to serve
1. Combine the milk, chocolate, Philly, cocoa and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool then whisk in the eggs.
2. Cut each bread slice in half diagonally. Arrange bread slices in a greased 2 litre capacity shallow baking dish. Pour over chocolate mixture and stand for 10 minutes.
3. Bake in a moderately slow oven 160 C for 35-40 minutes or until set. Allow to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream. Serve immediately.
Source: Philadelphia Simply Heaven, pg 141