Chocolate Orange Soufflé Bread Pudding

French Tart's Note:

Impress your family & friends with this delicious but very easy make-ahead pudding, with some naughty but very nice ingredients: two types of chocolate, fresh oranges & more than a splash of Cointreau for that special touch! It can be made up to 2-3 days in advance - the longer it steeps in the chocolate & cointreau mixture, the fluffier & lighter it will be when cooked, hence a Soufflé Bread & Butter pudding. Serve with fresh whipped cream or Ice cream & garnish with grated orange zest & white chocolate curls. Serve in small portions because it is very rich.

• Total Time: 72 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 72 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 10 slices thick white bread
• 6 ounces good quality white chocolate
• 6 ounces good quality dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
• 3 ounces butter
• 16 fluid ounces whipping cream
• 2 oranges, zest of, grated
• 4 tablespoons Cointreau liqueur
• 4 ounces brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 medium organic eggs

Garnish

• 1/2 orange, zest of, grated
• 2 ounces white chocolate, curls

Directions:

1. You will also need a shallow ovenproof baking dish lightly buttered, about 8" x 8" square or 7" X 9".
2. Start at least 6 hours before you need to bake the pudding; it can be prepared up to 2-3 days beforehand & covered and stored in the fridge.
3. Remove the crusts from the slices of bread & cut each slice into 4 triangles.
4. Place the white chocolate, dark chocolate, whipping cream, Cointreau, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl & set the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring the mixture well, until the butter and chocolate have melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.
5. Remove the bowl from the heat and give it a good stir to amalgamate all the ingredients.
6. Add the orange zest & mix well again.
7. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and then pour the chocolate mixture over them and whisk again very thoroughly to blend them together.
8. Spoon about half an inch of the chocolate mixture into the base of your buttered baking dish and arrange half the bread triangles over the top of the chocolate mixture in overlapping rows.
9. Pour half the remaining chocolate mixture all over the bread triangles & smooth the mixture evenly over them.
10. Arrange the remaining bread triangles over the top & then pour on the rest of the chocolate mixture.
11. Using a spoon, press the bread gently down so that it is covered very evenly with the liquid as it cools.
12. Cover the dish with Clingfilm and allow to stand at room temperature for about 2-3 hours before transferring it to the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably 48 to 72 hours before cooking.
13. When you are ready to cook the pudding, pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F or Gas Mark 4. Remove the clingfilm, sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top & bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is crunchy & the pudding is well risen & still soft inside.
14. Serve with freshly whipped cream or ice cream & garnish with some zest of fresh orange & some large white chocolate curls.
15. N.B.Place the white chocolate in the freezer & use a potato peeler to make your chocolate curls!

Reviews

[WiGal]

Hubby and I loved this dessert and will make it again. The revisions I made for the Make It Healthier Tag were: French bread w/o any dairy products (angie_pangies' recipe Everyday Bread (French Bread) Abm Bread Machine, Everyday Bread (French Bread) Abm Bread Machine), unsalted butter instead of regular butter, fat free half and half in place of the whipping cream, and an egg substitute. I also used oranges from our neighbor’s tree so will give them some dessert:) I am sorry that my photos are so unattractive-I have a lot to learn.

[Kathy228]

For chocolate lovers. Absolutely delicious. I loved the texture. The orange and chocolate blended so perfectly. I used homemade bread and all dark chocolate. I chilled it for 24-hours before baking. I really love this. It's "devine decadence." Thanks FT.

[michEgan]

This bread pudding had a very nice chocolate flavor. You could not tell white chocolate was in it, but it had a very nice sweet flavor. The orange came through too. My father really enjoyed this rcipe. A very nice recipe! Thanks.