Did you ever wake up on Christmas morning and know that at some time during the day, you'd be munching on one of those chocolate oranges? If you're British like me, this thought may occur more often than not. I must admit I liked them but they seemed to stop coming once I became all grown up and moved to the States. (That was a sneaky little gift idea I threw in there just in case someone- anyone- is still wondering what to buy me for Christmas - throw me a chocolate orange and I'll be your friend forever!)
Chocolate and orange is one of those great combos, especially if it's a dark bittersweet chocolate. I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart mainly by switching her ever so slightly boring regular milk for a thick, rich chocolate milk from Broguiere's Dairy. I figured if you are going to make chocolate bread pudding, try and make it as chocolate-y as possible. I actually thought it'd have been easier to find a chocolate bread to use as the base, but I had zero luck and I just couldn't take any more store clerks giving me weird looks and repeating what I had just asked them."Chocolate bread?" (insert blank stare).
I ended up using challah bread which is a great choice for bread pudding, as is cinnamon bread or even brioche if you can find that. Some cooks swear by using day-old French baguettes but I think those need lots of liquid and a good long soaking. I also chopped up some pieces of orange and mixed it through the layers of challah, finally laying some slices on top. After the pudding was baked, I gave it a whirl under the broiler to caramelize the orange slices.
Let me mention the chocolate milk I drank used. It comes from a family owned and operated dairy here in Southern California. The Broguiere family have been making various dairy products for many moons and selling it in large, old fashioned glass bottles. They say that the milk tastes better having taken on no other flavors from a carton.
Another amazing thing they sell right now is eggnog - bright yellow and thick like a milk shake, this is also known as liquid gold! If your lucky enough to see some, buy it. It's not the cheapest but the taste is lotto-winning super delicious, and there's a cash deposit refund when you return your bottle!
