- Hey guys, if it is still chilly where you live
and spring is slow-coming,
I have got a great dessert idea that will warm you right up.
It is my banana bread pudding with chocolate chunks.
This is a fantastic dessert to serve
when it's really cold outside and you have friends over
and you want to impress them with something
really soul-satisfying and delicious.
People will talk about these bread puddings for weeks.
They are that good.
Let me show you how to put it together.
So the first thing you want to do is prep your ramekins.
So I'm working with four six-ounce ramekins
and you want to spray them with some baking spray.
I like the larger ramekin, because I think the pudding
looks a lot more elegant that way.
I also like the little raised
polka dots on the side of them.
If you want to know where to get them,
they're in my Amazon shop
and I'll leave you a link in the description.
So once you spray them with the baking spray,
it also helps to take a pastry brush
and just rub around the sides,
making sure everything's well-coated.
And then you can set those aside.
Then in a large mixing bowl, you're going to add six eggs,
one cup of heavy cream, two tablespoons of sugar.
I don't actually add that much sugar to this,
because the bananas provide so much sweetness.
But if your bananas are not very ripe,
you might want to add another tablespoon.
And one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
And you can whisk that all together,
just until combined, and then set that aside.
Then, for our bread, I like to use a rustic Italian loaf,
but you could also use brioche
or you could use a French loaf.
And you just want to cut the bread
into about half-inch cubes.
And we're looking for six cups.
Then you can add the bread to the batter
and toss it to combine, making sure all those cubes
are getting well-soaked in with the custard.
And then in a small bowl,
you want to mash two very ripe bananas.
The riper they are, the sweeter the puddings will be
and the more pronounced the banana flavor will be.
And you can toss those in.
And then the last thing we're gonna add
is 1/3 of a cup of chocolate.
So you could use chocolate chunks,
you could use chocolate chips, whatever you have will do.
See wasn't that easy?
This is all we have to do.
Now we're going to take this mixture and fill our ramekins.
I think it's easiest to do it with an ice cream scoop.
And you just want to make sure that your
first couple scoops have a lot of liquid in it,
because that's what's gonna create
the sort of custard center.
And then the final scoop should have more bread in it,
because you want to make sure that you get
some nice cubes kind of balancing on top,
which will toast and become golden brown
and make the banana puddings look really elegant.
Then you want to take your ramekins
and place them on a baking tray.
And you can pop this whole thing
in your refrigerator just like that,
because you do want to make sure that
you refrigerate these puddings for at least four hours
to allow for the bread to soak up all of that custard.
Because that will create a more delicate interior
than if you just popped it into the oven right away.
Then when it comes time to serve,
you can pop these in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for about 45 to 50 minutes.
So it does take quite a bit of time
to make sure all of that egg custard is fully cooked through
and that the tops have become golden brown.
And you can kind of press on them a little bit
and if no liquid is coming up
and they're nice and kind of spongy,
then you know that they're done.
So you can take them out.
And then I like to dust these
with a little bit of powdered sugar just on top.
And then you can bring them right to the table
and let everybody dig in.
(laughing)
And once they've gotten through about two to three bites,
it's also a good idea to serve a little
lightly-whipped whip cream on the side,
because it's a fantastic combination
to pour a little bit of that whip cream
into the banana puddings.
Because there's something really delicious
about that hot bread pudding and the cool whip cream.
Not to mention, it serves as a nice flavor combination
between the rich banana and the chocolate chips.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And for all the printed recipes,
you can head to my website, EntertainingWithBeth.com,
and you can print them out there.
Alright you guys, I will see you back here next time
for another quick and easy recipe.
Until then, bye!