Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

There's nothing as comforting as a warm, delicious bread pudding. It's made even better by the little nuggets of chocolate buried in its creamy depths.

Here I am, in the middle of my last ever December vacation. I'm enjoying myself. I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen baking various things (cupcakes!) which I plan to post next year since I won't have much free time for baking and taking photos.

But something has changed. Normally vacation time is when I spend blissful weeks doing nothing. I eat, sleep, watch TV, read and bake. That's all I do. This time, however, I find myself studying. One reason for this is my parents who never let me forget that I have just four months left for my exams.

But actually, I've changed. I'm realizing that as you grow up there's no such thing as an irresponsible existence. You have to work for what you want. It's as simple as that. It's like having cold water thrown over you when you realize this. But that's life. The grown up thing to do is to study when you have to, even if it means spoiling your vacation. It will pay off in the end.

This bread pudding is seriously good. No joke. It's one of Nigella Lawson's recipes and after seeing her make it on TV, I had to make it. It's the perfect way to use up leftover, slightly stale bread. This is so easy to make. Just soak bread cut up into cubes in a custard, sprinkle over choc chips and sugar and bake! Easy as that.

The chocolate chips elevate this to another level. It probably would not be half as good without them.
I made a few changes to the recipe. Nigella adds a little rum to the mixture but that is optional so I didn't use any.
I also heated up a little of the milk and dissolved the sugar in that, just so that it dissolves properly.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding 
Adapted from Nigella Kitchen

40 grams (1.4 oz) brown sugar
125 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
250 grams stale bread (2-3 days old)
500 ml (2 cups) cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
100g (4 oz) dark chocolate chips
4 teaspoons brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Grease a 23 cm pie dish or any oven-proof dish and set aside.
Heat the milk in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. It doesn't have to be piping hot, just hot enough for the sugar to dissolve in the milk. Add in the sugar and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool. Cut the bread into medium-size cubes and arrange evenly in the pie dish. Scatter over the chocolate chips, distributing evenly.
Whisk together the milk and sugar mixture, cream, vanilla and eggs. Pour this custard over the bread, pressing down on the cubes to soak them properly. Leave the bread to soak for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile. preheat the oven to 170C/350F.
Sprinkle the brown sugar over the bread and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top in golden brown and the custard is lightly set.


Enjoy!