Belgian Strong Ale Chocolate Bread Pudding

The combination of chocolate and Belgian strong ales is amazing. Combining the two in a warm and delicious dessert is even more amazing.

Pair this warm and chocolatey dessert with the same beer or an imperial stout.

Dry Ingredients:

A pound of day old french bread, cut into cubes. Probably yields around 12-16 cups.

1 lb of semi sweet chocolate, grated

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp of fine chopped fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

6 large eggs

1 tbsp of vanilla

2 1/4 cups of milk

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 1/4 cup of Chimay Bleu (or other Belgian style strong ale)

Couple dashes of bourbon

In a 13×9 pan, butter the dish so the bread pudding won’t stick. Spread out the bread cubes in the pan. Grate the chocolate in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the rest of the dry ingredients. Then start mixing in the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla and mix again.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the milk, cream, and beer to a quick boil. Take off the heat. Pour the mixture over the grated chocolate, slowly, constantly whisking until chocolate is completely melted. Let sit a couple minutes to cool.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, slowly, constantly whisking. Add in a few dashes of the bourbon and mix again. Pour the entire mixture over the bread. Lightly press down on the bread so they soak up all that yummy goodness. Place in the refrigerator and let sit for at least an hour or overnight.

Pull the bread pudding out of the fridge. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake the pudding for an hour, or until you can place a knife in the center of the pudding and it comes out clean. Serve with a touch of whipped cream.