Dark Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Bread Pudding
When I get my mind set on making something, I will go hell and high water to find everything I need to make it. Ask just about anyone who has ever had the misfortune of being my grocery companion on a day when I just can’t find what I’m looking for. Usually this poor patient soul is Courtney, but I’m sure my Dad will recall driving to every store in Ukiah looking for a pomegranate that I absolutely needed for the salad I was envisioning for dinner. If I recall that evening, nobody was paying any attention to whether there was pomegranate on the salad by the time dinner rolled round, but it seemed essential at the time.
Likewise, as I set out to create the perfect Mother’s Day brunch last weekend, I searched and searched for pretzel rolls, to no avail. I actually said to Courtney, ‘no one will even notice if I use these challah rolls!” but nothing is quite that simple. If I call it ‘dark chocolate-covered pretzel bread pudding,’ it MUST have pretzel rolls. So, I set out to make them the night before, a tedious process that involves making the dough, letting it rise, poaching and then baking and then cutting into little pieces and baking again. Oh, the things we do for integrity!
They turned out beautifully! But let’s be honest here… once they were smothered in heavy cream and dark chocolate, no would have been any the wiser had they been challah rolls. In fact, I’ll venture to say that every last bit of their “pretzelness” was lost in the process, masked by delicious dark chocolate morsels.
Life is all about knowing when you can fake it. Lesson learned: save the pretzel rolls for sandwiches. Any bread will do if you invest in high quality dark chocolate!
Dark Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Bread Pudding
Adapted from Eats Well with Others
Ingredients
- 8-12 pretzel rolls*
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks
- Whipped cream, to garnish
*I couldn’t find them anywhere so I made them using this recipe. I used one full recipe, which was eight rolls.
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350. Cut the pretzel bread into 1 inch pieces and let sit out overnight to get stale. You can also lightly toast them in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
- Heat the cream and sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour 1/4 cup of the cream mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Whisk in another 1/4 cup. Pour the remaining cream into the bowl with the eggs, whisking constantly. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Put in the refrigerator to cool
- Once cool, toss the bread with the custard and the chocolate chips. Pour into a 10-inch springform pan; you will want to line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Garnish with whipped cream and serve warm!
Serves 8
