By James Friend Dickerson
Since my wife, Karen, gets migraine headaches from dark chocolate, I’m always looking for white chocolate recipes. Recently I found a white chocolate bread pudding recipe on Chef John Folse’s web site, which I’ve modified, My family claims that I always make changes, but they seem to keep coming back to the table when I cook. If you like bread pudding, give this a try!
Ingredients
French Bread -1 1/2 loaves of 24” bread
4 large eggs
6 large egg yolks
4 c heavy whipping cream
1 c milk
1 c sugar
16 oz. Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Chips
Slice the French bread into 1/4 inch slices and layer in a cast iron Dutch oven or large Corning Ware baking dish.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Make sure the bowl is big enough for vigorous whisking. You don’t want to lose any of the eggs.
In a large sauce plan over medium heat, combine the cream and milk. When the liquid reaches a low simmer, whisk in the sugar and then the white chocolate, adding small amounts at a time. Whisk until blended, and then add some more. Once combined, remove from the heat.
Whisk the egg mixture again to ensure it’s thoroughly blended. Also, whisk the cream mixture and slowly pour it in the egg mixture. Make sure to vigorously whisk in the egg mixture to the warm cream mixture or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs floating in your cream – not a very pretty or yummy concoction.
Pour half the cream mixture over the sliced French bread. Push the bread down with your fingers so the cream mixture will be absorbed. After a half hour, add the remaining cream mixture. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours to allow the cream mixture to be fully absorbed into the bread. During the refrigeration, you can push down the bread with your fingers a couple of times to encourage the absorption process.