The 12 Days of Christmas Cooking...Day 4

I'm playing catch up! I know, I know. I've missed 4 days. That means there will be 4 posts in a row. I apologize for the mass blogging (especially to those I know with RSS feeds that will get flooded).

I do have a pretty good reason for not blogging the past few days. I catered a nice little Christmas party for my church. While I only had to feed about 25 people, it's still a lot of work. I made fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, broccoli, haricot vert, honey-glazed carrots, corn bread muffins, white chocolate bread pudding with white chocolate sauce, mixed berry crisp with whipped cream, cheese and crackers, grapes, apples, and cranberry punch. It was a lot of cooking, but we got it all done and it all turned out wonderfully! I also had to do the decorating, which took a little creativity and planning. I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my sous chef, my Daddy, and my Momma. They were awesome help in the cooking and set-up processes as well as breaking everything down and cleaning up. Everyone really enjoyed the food and it was nice to spend time together without the distraction of kids, work, or school. If anyone from SCoC is reading this, thanks for coming! I hope you enjoyed it :)

My inspiration for the belated 4th day of Christmas Cooking actually comes from this party. My good friend Liz asked if I would put the recipe for my white chocolate bread pudding up on my blog. So this one's for you, Liz!
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On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A white chocolate bread pudding recipe!


Elle's White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce

1 loaf (about 5 cups) of french bread, torn or cut into 3-inch pieces
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp. high-fat cocoa powder (regular unsweetened cocoa powder will work just fine)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
1, 12 oz. package white chocolate chip morsels

Tear or cut the french bread into large pieces (about 3 inches). Place them in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. In a bowl whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and vanilla. When that mixture is blended well and beginning to look frothy, whisk in the milk. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the bread. Using your hands (even you, Liz!) press the bread down into the baking dish to help it absorb all the liquid. If everything still looks a bit dry, you can add a few splashes of milk. Cover and refrigerated for at least 2 hours. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and continue baking for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until set. While the bread pudding is baking, you can make the sauce.

White Chocolate Sauce

1 pkg white chocolate morsels
1 pt. heavy cream

In a sauce pan, slowly heat the cream on medium heat. When cream is barely simmering, add the whole package of white chocolate morsels. The sauce is ready when the white chocolate has melted completely into the cream.

The bread pudding is best served warm with the warm sauce drizzled over it. Both the pudding and the sauce reheat very well.

Enjoy!

Elle

PS If you don't care for white chocolate, you can replace the white chocolate morsels with milk or dark chocolate morsels in both the pudding and the sauce.