I bought The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, originally published in 1896. I’ve always loved bread pudding AND chocolate desserts. I couldn’t resist trying it.
The recipe calls for homemade bread crumbs. Since I make banana bread often, I wondered how this would taste in this bread pudding. First, I made my banana bread. Using 3 bananas enhances the fruit flavor of the bread.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Chop homemade bread (I used banana bread as an experiment) until you have 2 cups of crumbs.
Melt ¼ cup of butter and set aside.
Heat 4 cups of milk to scalding.
Spray or butter a 1 ½ or 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
Break 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate into small pieces and melt them in the milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
Add the bread crumbs and stir until mixed. Set aside until it cools to lukewarm.
Then add the butter, 1/3 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 slightly beaten eggs. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes or until set.
Serve it chilled with whipped cream. (If you have heavy whipping cream on hand, make you own whipped cream. You can’t beat the fresh, creamy flavor!)
I tried this without whipped cream. It’s a moist pudding. This was enough chocolate for this chocolate lover, but it overpowered the banana flavor. Whipped cream definitely enhanced this delicious dessert.
The banana bread added to the moist quality of the pudding but not to the flavor. I will use homemade white bread next time.
I’d love to hear if you try this recipe.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.
Sandra Merville Hart 