Palace Cafe White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Charmed's Note:

I got this recipe quite a few years ago, and it's still my favorite bread pudding. It's attributed to the Palace Cafe in New Orleans. I don't make it too often because it's so rich, and expensive, but once in a while for a special occasion... Warning...do not serve to weight watchers! You can freeze the leftover egg whites for future use. Sometimes I'll keep a couple out and make some meringue cookies.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

BREAD PUDDING

• 3 cups whipping cream
• 10 ounces white chocolate
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 loaf French bread or 1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1/4 " slices and dried in oven
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

SAUCE

• 8 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 3 ounces heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chocolate shavings (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275.
2. (temperature is correct) Spray a casserole dish large enough to hold the bread and egg mixture with non-stick vegetable spray.
3. Being careful not to burn the mixture, heat cream & add chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until melted and remove from the heat.
4. Also in a double boiler, whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla and heat until till just warm.
5. Pour this into white chocolate mixture and blend.
6. Place the bread in the baking dish & pour half the cream mixture over the bread.
7. Let it absorb for a few minutes & pour remaining cream mixture over the pudding.
8. Cover with foil & bake for 1 hour.
9. Remove foil & bake 15 minutes longer, or until top is golden.
10. To make the sauce.
11. In a double boiler, melt 8 oz white chocolate with the cream.
12. Remove from the heat & stir until blended.
13. To serve: Let the pudding cool to room temperature.
14. (Can be served warm or chilled).
15. Cut into serving pieces & spoon the warm sauce over the servings.
16. Top with chocolate shavings.

Reviews

[Bonica]

This is one of the most requested dishes around the holidays at my house. I have even learned that you can heat the filling and topping in the microwave instead of wasting all that time over a stove with a double-boiler. Yes, it is a little on the expensive side to make, but it tops off the best of a Thanksgiving or Christmas Holiday meal. Thanks for submitting.....others will enjoy.

[La Dilettante]

Certainly rich and tasty, but I agree with the reviewer who judged it "too eggy". Not trusting my own less-than-wowed reaction, I took several squares of this to my nail/hair salon for the 5 women there to sample and "review". They ate it up, and loved it, but what made me decide it's hardly worth the effort and expense was my manicurist's comment: "Mmm! But honestly? It tastes a LOT like warm Jell-O pudding from a box. Or banana pudding without the bananas." My faint-praise three stars, therefore. For the cost and calories (aaaagh!) it should have been a LOT more "wow"...

[shooter77]

I topped this with a berry sauce - Jam I'd added water and heated to make it runny, and baked that on top for the last 5minutes, it was very popular. This was a delicious recipe.