Chocolate Bread Pudding

I kinda figured I won't be able to eat all the orange cardamom bread I made, so I thought I'll turn the rest into... bread pudding! I've always loved the combination of orange and chocolate and with the bread already with the orange flavor, chocolate should go into the pudding!

Ingredients:
4 cups of leftover orange cardamom bread, cubed into about 1-1/2 inch squares
1-3/4 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa and 1/4 cup semi-sweet milk chocolate chips)
1/3 cup sugar (I only used about 1/4 cup since the chocolate chips were already sweet)
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 2 eggs beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs orange juice
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans would work too, optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F and coat an 8 X 8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place bread cubes, cranberries, and nuts in a large bowl. Mix carefully to evenly distribute the cranberries and nuts but not too much to break down the bread.
3. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until simmering.
4. Whisk in cocoa powder/chocolate chips and sugar.
5. Place beaten eggs in a small bowl, whisk a bit
6. Add about 1/4 cup of the warmed cocoa milk to the eggs, and stir. Then add this cocoa and egg mixture to the rest of the cocoa milk, along with the vanilla, orange juice, and nutmeg.
7. Pour liquid over the bread and stir the bread cubes, allowing them to soak up the liquid. Let stand for about 15-20 minutes.
8. Pour into the greased baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes until set.
9. Let cool and enjoy!

PS. I wish I thought of getting light whip cream, it would have gone well with warm bread pudding!

La Fuji Mama — Bringing world flavors to the family dinner table.

http://www.lafujimama.com

Orange Cardamom Bread

Breads have always scared me so when my cousin started posting on FB that she has recipes for no knead breads, I thought maybe that's the way to go. Anyway, I've had ups and downs with no knead breads but last week, I found this recipe that required very, very minimal kneading, and with my Kitchen Aid doing almost all the work! Perfect, right? To top it off, it's orange-flavored, which is one of my favorite citrus scents! The recipe called for white bread flour but I thought I could tweak it and use some white whole wheat flour to make it "healthier". Luckily, it turned out really well! :-) Original recipe by La Fuji Mama (www.lafujimama.com)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup + 2 tbs bread flour (I use GM Better for Bread flour)
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/8 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tbs instant yeast
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1-1/8 cup warm water (120 to 130 deg F)
1/8 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 tbs oil
1 tbs finely shredded orange zest

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a baking sheet.
2. Using kitchen aid paddle, whisk the bread flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cardamom together in the mixing bowl of an electric mixer.
3. Add the water, orange juice, oil, and orange zest and mix for 1 minute at medium-high speed, then check the consistency of the dough. The dough should be quite sticky. Add a tablespoon at a time of water if you find that it is too dry.
4. Mix for 5 minutes at medium speed. Do not add any additional flour after dough has finished mixing.
5. Spray a smooth kneading surface with cooking spray and turn dough out onto the surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
6. Knead each portion briefly, turning it out about 4-5 times just to smooth out.
7. Roll each piece into 3 strands of the same length then braid together.
8. Place the braid on the greased baking sheet and cover with large dish towel.
9. Let rise for at least 25 min. It won't hurt to leave the dough be for more than that!
10. Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool before slicing.
12. Enjoy with Alton's Honey Butter!