Whenever my family and I eat at the Nordstrom Cafe, inevitably someone gets the White Chocolate Bread Pudding. I always get the Chinese Chicken Salad, but that’s another issue entirely. A few years ago when I was at the Cafe, they had a new cookbook. This was one of the wonderful recipes in that book! Like it says in the book, it doesn’t matter how much you have eaten, there is always room for this dessert!
When you read the ingredients, you may decide never to make it because of the risk of death by sudden heart attack factor. It’s worth it. Do it anyway.
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups (1 1/2 bags) white chocolate morsels
6 large whole eggs, plus 12 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 24-inch day old French bread (not sourdough), cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
Ingredients for Raspberry Sauce, White Chocolate Sauce and garnish:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 cups fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 pint fresh raspberries
4 ounce chunk of white chocolate
Preheat the oven to 325F. Brush a 9×13x2 inch baking pan with 2 Tablespoons melted butter. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
In a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, milk and sugar and heat until just hot. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate morsels and stir until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. While whisking, gradually drizzle the warm cream mixture into the eggs, continuing to whisk until smooth and well blended. If the cream mixture is too hot, the eggs will curdle.
Lay half of the bread slices in the bottom of the prepared pan. Pour half of the cream mixture over the bread and allow to absorb the liquid, about 5 minutes. Layer the remaining bread on top and pour the rest of the cream mixture over it. Press down on the bread, making certain it completely absorbs the liquid. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
Bake the pudding for 1 hour. Uncover and continue to bake until the liquid in the center has evaporated and the pudding is golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
When the bread pudding is cool, cover and refrigerate until cold. Run a sharp knife between the edges of the bread pudding and the sides of hte pan to loosen the pudding and then invert the pan onto a cutting board and tap the bottom to release the pudding. Peel off the parchment paper. Trim off the crusty edges around the sides. Cut the bread pudding into six 2×3 inch rectangles and then cut each rectangle in half on an angle to form 2 triangles. Wrap and store in the refrigerator.
This dessert is served with both Raspberry Sauce and a White Chocolate Sauce, and then garnished with fresh raspberries and white chocolate curls.
To make the Raspberry Sauce, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 teaspoons orange zest and stir frequently, until the mixture is thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add the raspberries , reduce the heat to low and cook until the fruit begins to fall apart, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Then, using the back of a spoon, force the sauce through a fin-mesh sieve placed over a bowl to remove the seeds. Set aside until ready to serve.
To make the White Chocolate Sauce, in a small saucepan over medium high heat, warm the1/2 cup heavy cream until hot. Remove from the heat and add 1 cup white chocolate morsels and stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and the sauce is smooth. Keep warm.
To finish and assemble the dessert, preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a rimmed baking sheet and place the bread pudding triangles on it, leaving space between the pieces. Brush the triangles with the remaining 3 Tablespoons melted butter. Bake the triangles until heated through and lightly browned, about 12 minutes.
For each serving, stand a hot bread pudding triangle on its side int he center of a large dessert plate. Run a stripe of White Chocolate Sauce across the plate, including over the top of the pudding. Pool some of the Raspberry Sauce at opposite edges of the plate. Garnish with raspberries and with ribbons of white chocolate cut from a chunk of white chocolate with a vegetable peeler.
From the Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook
Posted on January 2nd, 2010 by katiedidit
Filed under: cooking, dessert | 1 Comment »
