Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding

Ever since I saw Giada rave about panetonne on one of her shows, I've wanted to try it. (Say what you will about TV-star chefs, I just love Giada. She's too cute!) So, when I had the opportunity to try some out for free, I jumped at it. Bauducco was generous enough to send me 2 of these Italian specialty cakes - a chocolate chip and a raisin:

Seeing as I was in a chocolate kind of mood last night, I decided to try that one first. When I opened it up and cut into it, I quickly learned this "cake" is much more bread-like, as you can see:

 

While it is moist, it's not quite as moist as cake - and it has a larger crumb. As I took a bite, a surprising orange flavor came through. Looking closer, I could see little bits of dried fruit in the cake, along with those delicious chocolate morsels. It really is a very unique flavor - a little bit along the lines of a friendship bread, but more refined. On its own, it would be a great snack along with a cup of coffee or tea.

But I wasn't looking for an accompaniment to coffee or tea. No, I wanted some straight up delicious dessert. So, I decided to use the cake for a bread pudding. When I make bread pudding, I often use leftover hamburger or hot dog rolls that are taking up space in the freezer. Their soft texture is perfect for bread pudding - and this panetonne is very similar, so I thought it would work well. 

To go along with the chocolate and orange flavors already in the cake, I added some cherries and a touch of rum. Topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, the results were delicious, in my opinion. 

Mr. ValleyWriter says he thinks the raisin panetonne would make a more "traditional" bread pudding (which he prefers) so we may have to give that a try next. But for me, chocolate takes bread pudding to the next level - a definite must try!

Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/3 c. fresh cherries, chopped

2 Tbsp. rum

1 1/3 c. milk

1/4 c. sugar

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 1/2 c. cubed chocolate chip panetonne

2 Tbsp. chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 4 custard cups and place in a larger casserole dish.

Combine cherries and rum in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. 

In a separate bowl, whisk egg and egg yolk. Slowly whisk in hot milk/sugar mixture. Add the cubed panettone to the liquid and let sit 10 minutes.

Stir in rum-soaked cherries and pour evenly into prepared custard cups. Sprinkle 1/4 of the chocolate chips evenly over the top of each one.

Place casserole dish containing custard cups in the preheated oven. Create a water bath by carefully adding warm water to the bottom of the casserole dish until it comes about 1/2 way up the sides of the custard cups. 

Bake pudding at 350°F for 35 minutes or until set in the center. Remove from water bath and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Disclosure: I received the Bauducco panettone free as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, but the opinions expressed above are my own.