Recipes
Brownie Points for Bread Pudding
By Pat Tanner • Photograph by Jason Varney
This decadent, easy-to-make dessert is the creation of Anthony Bucco, executive chef at Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi, both in New Brunswick. I first tasted it last year at a benefit dinner at Catherine Lombardi. That night, the restaurant raised more than $36,000 for the Hunter Morris Fund, established on behalf of a New Jersey toddler with eosinophilic enteropathy, a rare digestive system disorder.
When I asked Bucco if I could use his recipe in the biweekly food column I write for The Princeton Packet, I had no idea it would become one of the most requested recipes in the column’s 14-year history. This is my slightly modified version, which results in a more brownie-like consistency. The dessert can be cut into squares or rectangles. I serve it with vanilla ice cream garnished with raspberries or strawberries, while Bucco pours on velvety hazelnut crème anglaise.
Chocolate, Espresso, and Hazelnut Bread Pudding
Serves 8
Butter, for pan
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup espresso, cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 loaf brioche, crust removed and discarded, diced
1/2 package ladyfingers or Savoiardi, torn into chunks
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips
Vanilla ice cream or crème anglaise, for serving
Fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan, or use a nonstick pan. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and espresso. Add cocoa powder, sugar, and cinnamon, and whisk until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine brioche, ladyfingers, hazelnuts, and chocolate; add to egg mixture, and stir until combined. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature with ice cream.
