Dessert: Spiced Chocolate Bread Pudding

Adding a little cinnamon and cayenne to custardy chocolate bread pudding gives the dessert a pleasantly surprising kick.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Cinnamon

Health benefits of Spiced Chocolate Bread Pudding

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060).

Ingredients

1 loaf egg bread
3 c. whole milk
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne (ground red) pepper
1 pinch salt
1/2 c. heavy or whipping cream
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
7 large eggs
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
Dulce de leche or vanilla ice cream
dulce de leche

Instructions

Grease shallow 3-quart baking dish.
Cut bread into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Toast lightly until golden brown. Cool completely, then cut each slice in half diagonally.
In 3-quart saucepan, whisk milk, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, and cream to blend. Heat on medium until bubbles form around edge. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until melted. In large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Continue whisking while adding hot chocolate mixture in slow, steady stream.
In prepared dish, decoratively arrange slices of toast in overlapping layers to cover dish evenly. Scatter chocolate chips over slices of toast, then pour chocolate mixture evenly over all. Cover with plastic wrap. If toast slices are not coated with chocolate mixture, gently press down to coat with mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover bread pudding and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack at least 15 minutes.
Cut bread pudding into squares. Serve with ice cream or drizzle with dulce de leche if desired.

Share Spiced Chocolate Bread Pudding