Baked Chocolate Brioche Pudding
Cubes of brioche soak up a rich chocolate custard and bake into a soft, spoonable pudding with a lightly set top. A pinch of salt keeps the chocolate from tasting flat.
- Total
- 58 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 33 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Tempering eggs · Whisking
- Sweet
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 170°C. Cut the brioche into 3 cm cubes and spread them in a 20 cm baking dish in an even layer.
~5 min
-
Put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and place it in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until the chocolate has melted and the cream is hot. Whisk until smooth and glossy.
~8 min
Gentle oven heat melts chocolate without scorching, while warm cream blends into a smooth, glossy emulsion.
Whisking Whisk in a steady circular motion, scraping the bowl's edges, until the mixture is uniform. Stop as soon as it is smooth to avoid whipping in air.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the chocolate melts, whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in a jug for 1 minute, until pale and smooth.
~1 min
Whisking eggs with sugar dissolves the sugar and partially breaks up the proteins so the custard stays smooth.
Whisking Whisk in a steady circular motion, scraping the bowl's edges, until the mixture is uniform. Stop as soon as it is smooth to avoid whipping in air.
-
Slowly pour the warm chocolate cream into the eggs, whisking constantly so the eggs do not scramble. Pour the custard over the brioche and press the cubes down so they soak. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
~10 min
Tempering the eggs gradually with hot cream raises their temperature slowly, preventing the proteins from scrambling.
Pour the hot cream into the eggs in a thin stream while whisking; adding it all at once overheats the eggs and leaves streaks of cooked egg in the custard.
Tempering eggs Pour the hot cream in a thin, steady stream while whisking constantly. If you see grainy specks, the eggs have scrambled and the custard will be lumpy.
Whisking Whisk in a steady circular motion, scraping the bowl's edges, until the mixture is uniform. Stop as soon as it is smooth to avoid whipping in air.
-
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the custard is set at the edges and the centre still wobbles slightly when you nudge the dish.
~25 min
The edges set first because they heat fastest; a wobbly centre means the custard is still moist and soft.
Pull the dish out while the centre still wobbles. It firms as it cools, and baking until fully set gives a dry, rubbery pudding.
-
Take the dish out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm, spooned into bowls.
~10 min