Family Favorite: Double Chocolate Peppermint Bread Pudding

Chocolate is a Family Favorite for Thousands
Chocolate is a favorite of the majority of people and when they can get a double dose of chocolate they are on cloud nine. Almost everyone I know has some form of chocolate once a week. I personally love chocolate, having a little every day, whether it is in my coffee, dessert, and pancakes. You name it and I can find a place to add chocolate.
Chocolate Bread Pudding on Every Occasion
Our family has Turkey on Thanksgiving and smoked Brisket on Christmas and Double Chocolate Bread Pudding Family Favorite on both. When making the following recipe if you don't like peppermint you can add raspberry, banana or any of flavor that you like with chocolate.
Chocolate Cake Recipe
1# 11oz Granulated Sugar
1# 2oz All Purpose Flour
5 ¾ oz Cocoa Powder
3 tsp Baking Soda
2 ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
9 oz Eggs
3 oz 4tsp Canola Oil
15 oz Buttermilk
15 oz Milk
2 ¼ tsp Peppermint Flavor
Directions: Prepare to round cake pans and preheat oven at 325 degrees.
Sift dry ingredients together and place in bowl (mixing bowl w/paddle attachment if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer). In a separate bowl combine eggs and oil. In another bowl combine buttermilk, milk and peppermint.
Gradually add the eggs and oil to the dry mixture, followed by the buttermilk, milk and peppermint. Occasionally stop and scrape the bowl. Mix until combined. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 40-60 minutes until a wooded skewer inserted into the center of the cake come out clean. Place on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes, then turn cakes out on to a cookie sheet and let cool completely. Once cool cut into 1" squares and place in a greased 11 x 9 cake pan.
Prepare Custard
2 ½ cups Heavy Cream
¼ cup 2 tbls Whole Milk
¾ cups Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 ½ tsp Peppermint Flavor
3 tbls Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3 tbls Granulated Sugar mixed with ¼ tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a heavy saucepan, scald the heavy cream, whole milk and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 ¾ cups semisweet chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted.
In a large heat proof bowl, whisk the eggs and the peppermint until well blended. Slowly temper the eggs by whisking the hot chocolate and milk mixture. Whisk the chocolate custard to blend well and pour the mixture over the cake cubes. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips on top of the custard and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Allow the bread pudding to sit for 10 to 1 minutes to ensure the cake cubes are soaked with custard. Take the cake pan and place in a roasting pan on the middle shelf of the oven. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan so that it comes 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake for 50 minutes until the custard has thickened. When the pan is gently shaken the center will barely move. Serve Warm.
I hope than you enjoy this family favorite recipe as much as we do.

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A Gourmet Dessert That Is Simple to Make and Elegant to Serve

The New York Polish Cheese Coffeecake is a beautiful and absolutely delicious dessert that is so easy to make it will surprise you. My daughter was afraid to try it though she had the recipe for many years. I made it with her to show how it is done. Her comment was that she would have made it long ago, had she known how simple it is. Anyone can make this dessert that puts on a gourmet look with just everyday effort. We all have occasions where we want to impress, and this is the dessert for the job. It is rich but not overly sweet. The crust is flaky and tender. The filling is smooth and creamy. Because it is rich it will easily make at least 12 portions.
I discovered this recipe for New York Polish Cheese Coffeecake a lot of years ago, when my children were still little. They are all grown up now, with families of their own. When I visited one of my daughters recently, she brought up this recipe, saying that she had always wanted to try it, but it seemed like it would be time consuming, and with 2 boys and a job, she needed something that was easy.
I told her we could get the simple ingredients and make it together, so she could see just how easy this dessert really could be. We went grocery shopping and picked up the ingredients, came home and made the dough. We rolled it out, filled it and topped with the second piece of dough. Then letting it set for a couple of hours to let the crust have some time to get that little bit of flaky rise, we popped it in the oven. She was astounded at how easy it all was.
When a special occasion comes around and a really spectacular gourmet looking and tasting dessert is what is needed, try this recipe. It was a fortuitous accident that led me to the recipe, and I have enjoyed making this dessert for numerous fine dinners. It is always received with acclaim, both for how pretty it is, and for how very good it tastes. It is hard to go wrong.
New York Polish Cheese Coffeecake
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup evaporated milk or cream, just warm
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Dissolve yeast in evaporated milk or cream. Add the tablespoon of sugar. Set aside. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter till crumbly, as for pie dough. Add in the egg yolks and the yeast mixture and mix until well combined. Divide dough in halves.
Roll the first half just a bit wider and longer than the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch pan. This will allow the dough to go up the sides about 1 1/2 inch, and the filling will be against the dough rather than the side of the pan.
Make filling. Beat cream cheese, egg yolk, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. Spread onto the bottom crust and smooth the top.
Roll out the second half of the dough to fit the top of the pan. If possible, set the pan on top of the dough and use the outline to trace a perfect size, cutting with a small knife to make a neat edge. Using the rolling pin, roll the piece of dough onto the pin, and then unroll neatly over the top of the filling.
Beat the egg white with a whisk until frothy. You are not looking for meringue, but just enough bubbles to hold onto the nuts on top of the pastry. Brush the top pastry with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle with nuts.
Cover and let rise in a warm place till doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Makes 12 servings.
Extra Notes
For serving, I like to cut this pastry right down the center of the length of the pan, then cut across the pan, making bar shapes. If you would like to make a rich pastry even richer, add 2 to 4 ounces of grated white chocolate to the filling mixture when mixing. No need to melt it first, it melts and blends in with the filling while baking. Enjoy this incredibly gourmet dessert and make guests think you slaved away all day long, when in reality it was about a half hour of work. It can easily be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature to serve.