Chocolate Bread Pudding

Bread pudding.  It's one of those things that I've always imagined that I should like...yet no matter how many times I've tried it, I've always been unimpressed and disappointed.  Gummy, dry, or just plain unflavorful, it seems that most people just can't get it right.  But seriously -- custard soaked challah bread?  People!  There MUST be a way to make this dish rock!  So when I discovered that Dorie Greenspan had a Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe in my Very Favorite Baking Book Ever (Baking: From My Home To Yours), I decided that I would give it a go.

Some friends and I get together once a month for a big potluck brunch, and I felt that it would be the perfect thing to share with a crowd.


 


I served it as Dorie suggested with a Vanilla Creme Anglaise Sauce.  I also had some dark chocolate ganache left over from something else, and I MAY have placed a bowl of that alongside...although there are no pictures to prove it... (and, just between us...that might have been overkill...)


 


Oh dear me.


 


Oh my freaking gosh.  I always knew there was something to love about bread pudding.