Bread pudding is one of those things that has possibly been floating around in my brain at a verrrrrrry subconscious level. I mean, cookies and cake are always at the top of course. So I was stunned when I woke up one morning thinking “I want to add chocolate and cherries to bread pudding”, like that had been my life goal all along.

It turns out that a basic bread pudding can become a flavour explosion when you give it the Black Forest treatment aka melted dark chocolate and a whole ton of fresh cherries. Plus whipped cream, obviously. IT’S SO GOOD!

This particular pudding is also lower on sugar than the average one, which means I don’t even mind it for breakfast, reserving my sugar rush for these. Chocolate and cherries provide enough sweetness, and an extra tablespoon of brown sugar is all you need. Other than that, it’s pretty basic. Bread soaked in a custard of milk, egg, and a little cream for richness. It bakes up into a crispy-on-top, moist-on-the-inside, dive headfirst into kinda dish.

I was also very sure I didn’t want to make a huge amount of bread pudding and have tons of leftovers. So I hunted around a bit and winged the custard proportions to arrive at something I liked. Eggy flavours put me off, so my version uses just one egg but still sets perfectly. I’d also seen this Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe a while ago which is when the idea to add chocolate probably lodged itself in my mind!

Whipped cream is essential in Black Forest Cake, and it’s essential here. It goes so well with the jammy cherries inside the pudding and melty chocolate chips on top. It is a quintessentially Black Forest taste that intensifies by day two! The whole thing is some sort of halfway between cake and a dense bread and it’s divine. I hope you’ll try this soon!

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Black Forest Bread Pudding

An easy, moist bread pudding with dark chocolate, fresh cherries and whipped cream

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 40

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

1 egg, at room temp (see notes)
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temp (125 ml)
1/4 cup cream, whipping or regular (60 ml)
1 tbsp brown sugar (see notes)
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 gms dark chocolate (70% to 75%), melted and slightly cooled
200 gms bread, at least 2 days old (see notes)
1/2 cup halved and pitted cherries
To finish: fresh cherries, whipped cream and chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Grease a 5" round baking dish that's at least 2" high. Alternatively, use a square or rectangular dish, that will fit the bread and custard easily. The mixture will not exactly overflow while baking, but it will puff up a bit so keep that in mind.
In a bowl, beat the egg, then add the milk, cream and sugar. Whisk well to combine.
Add the melted chocolate and whisk again till the chocolate has fully incorporated. Now take out 1/4 cup (60 ml) of this custard mixture and set it aside.
Break the bread up into bite-sized pieces (or chop it) and add it to the bowl. Stir to coat very well with the custard and let it soak for 20 minutes.
Now tip the soaked bread into your prepared dish, and stir in the cherries, saving a spoonful to scatter on top.
Pour the reserved 1/4 cup custard all over the top of it, pressing the bread down as needed to make sure it's fully soaked. Top with the reserved spoonful of cherries.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (if you use a shallow dish, the pudding may get done quicker), until the top looks set and a toothpick poked in the center comes out moist crumbs but no wet mixture.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot pudding, and serve warm with whipped cream! Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, and reheat before eating. It tastes as good as it does on day one, with a more intense Black Forest-y flavour 🙂 Happy baking!

Notes

*The egg is what gets the pudding to set and firm up. My hunch is about 1/2 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch may work as a substitute although the custard may take a little longer to set completely after cooling. Please keep in mind I haven't tried this myself but if you do, let me know how it goes!

*Bread pudding is all about the bread you use. While a standard white bread loaf works just fine, the pudding is richer and denser with a brioche or another kind of bread that has butter or eggs in it. A baguette or a bread that has more holes in it, will produce a lighter texture. I used a round, buttery bread that was in my freezer, and it was on the softer side, so the pudding is denser. I also topped the dish with a few pieces of day-old ragi (finger millet) bread, because that is airier and provides more texture. So feel free to mix up the kinds of bread you use as well, as long as it is a day or two old. Let it sit out at room temperature for a few hours before you soak it. I've also read that fresh bread can be lightly toasted to dry it out and make it more absorbent.

*If you're using a bittersweet chocolate or the cherries aren't too sweet, you may want to increase the brown sugar to suit your tastes. As written, this bread pudding is moderately sweet.