Double-Chocolate Bread Pudding with Strawberry Sauce

This rich bread pudding made in the slow-cooker has deep chocolate flavor, thanks to a combo of chocolate chips and cocoa powder. The simple strawberry sauce has just two ingredients.

ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
3 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 eggs, lightly beaten
6 cups dry 3/4-inch Italian bread cubes*
1 16 - ounce container frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, thawed
1/3 cup strawberry preserves

directions

Lightly coat the inside of a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Set cooker aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat milk, sugar, and butter over medium heat until very warm but not boiling, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate pieces and cocoa powder (do not stir); let stand for 5 minutes. Add vanilla. Whisk until smooth; cool slightly (about 10 minutes).

In a very large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and chocolate mixture. Gently stir in bread cubes. Transfer bread mixture to prepared cooker.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting about 2 1/2 hours or until mixture is puffed and seems set when gently shaken. Turn off the cooker. If possible, remove crockery liner from cooker and place on wire rack. Cool, uncovered, for 30 minutes (pudding will fall slightly as it cools).

Meanwhile, make the strawberry sauce. In a blender or food processor, puree strawberries with their syrup and the strawberry preserves until smooth. Cover; refrigerate until serving.

To serve, spoon warm pudding into dessert dishes and serve with the strawberry sauce.

tip

*To make dried bread cubes, cut a soft supermarket Italian bread loaf (not crusty) into 3/4-inch cubes to make 6 cups (you will need about 9 ounces of bread). Spread bread cubes evenly in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 300 degrees oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cubes are dry, stirring twice. Cool.

nutrition facts
(Double-Chocolate Bread Pudding with Strawberry Sauce)

Servings Per Recipe 8, Monounsaturated fat (g) 6, Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0, carb. (g) 84, Niacin (mg) 2, Trans fatty acid (g) 0, Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 1, Polyunsaturated fat (g) 2, Folate (µg) 83, Fat, total (g) 20, vit. C (mg) 24, cal. (kcal) 528, iron (mg) 3, vit. A (IU) 476, sat. fat (g) 11, Riboflavin (mg) 0, chol. (mg) 117, Thiamin (mg) 0, fiber (g) 6, sodium (mg) 319, pro. (g) 11, calcium (mg) 168, sugar (g) 59, Potassium (mg) 447