Cranberry Chocolate Coma Bread Pudding

I love chocolate... but even more than I love chocolate I LOVE dehydrated cranberries. Today was old roll is about to turn into mold roll day at work. So what do we do to rectify the situation? I vote for a bread pudding of some sort. And the vote is unanimous. All two of us wanted to do a bread pudding. So then my brain gets to thinkin' about what we've got in dry storage... and the fridge.. and just like that I have a bread pudding made and in the oven. Curious? Well, give it a try and let Ms. Mystery know what you think.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (that's fahrenheit, folks.) Make sure you have a rack on the middle shelf, of if you don't have a middle shelf, on the top.

Start with 1 bag of old-ish (NOT MOLDY) rolls - do not use stale rolls. Your bread pudding will taste like stale bread pudding. I like to use yeast rolls that are still moist enough to tolerate on their own or with soup. Like I said, 1 bag... or about 12 rolls. Rip up the bread into bitesize-ish pieces. Don't be shy, rip with love. Store in bag until you've got the custard set up.

Get a Huge mixing bowl ... Then get four eggs (not room temperature, we're talking straight from the fridge. Room temperature=food poisoning) Crack the eggs into the bowl- careful not to get any shell in it. Also, you will need 5 cups of a dairy type liquid to add to the eggs. I prefer 2 cups of half and half and 2 cups of heavy cream. (If this seems like too much liquid for your bread cut it down to 3 cups... but you want enough liquid to make it a custard.)
Wisk the eggs and liquid together. Then add....

2 T Cinnamon, preferably grated from a fresh stick
1/4 cup vanilla
1/2 cup rum
3 T brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (trust me- it cuts the sweetness of the chocolate)

Wisk again, like a bat out of (you know where) and get this all incorporated.

Then add:

3 cups dehydrated cranberries
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Once you've got everything mixed together put your bread in a greased casserole pan. I prefer glass. 9 x 13 should work. A little smaller is okay too.

Dump the bread (lovingly) into the casserole pan. Dump (again, lovingly) the custard mix into the casserole pan on top of the bread. Toss ingredients with a spoon, ever so gently, to incorporate.

Put on the middle or top rack of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. (Set a timer!)
Once your timer is hollerin' get to the oven and check your pudding. Wiggle the pan gently. If the contents of the pan are still jiggly and wet it's NOT done. Set your timer another 5 minutes and check again, and again, and again. When your bread pudding is done it should be set up, meaning when wiggled it should be firm, not wet. (Don't mistake goey chocolatey goodness for wet, eggy milky not done-ness.)

When you're absolutely positive that your bread puddin' is done take it out of the oven (use potholders... I know you're so excited by now you can hardly think straight!) And set it on your oven top. Turn off your oven. Let it sit for a few minutes (5ish) and get happy.

By this time you should have taken out your vanilla ice cream, an ice cream scoop or whipped cream and a spoon.. and you should be tapping your foot impatiently staring at the bread pudding. If you're not, what's wrong with you? Get with the program!

I don't need to tell you what comes next... and if I do... then what are you doing in the kitchen?


Enjoy. xxo